


Pink Incarnate

by Fooly



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Angst and Humor, Art, Multi, My First AO3 Post, Not Beta Read, Regret
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:08:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 41,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22366183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fooly/pseuds/Fooly
Summary: Pink Diamond is elated when she is gifted her first planet to colonize.All goes well until she beholds the beauty and freedom that her planet, the Earth, heralds.Disaster ensues
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Garnet/Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe), Pink Diamond/Greg Universe
Comments: 16
Kudos: 96





	1. Of what's to come

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fan fiction work I've actually decided to sit down and type. I decided to give Steven Universe a chance and after a weekend binge of the show and its movie I was hooked.
> 
> Thank you for taking the time to open and read this story.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where we see Pink reap what she sows

  
  


“Time to execute!” The luminous Yellow Diamond decrees with a one-two clap of her gloved hands. Various Topaz guards immediately surrounded the now crying Nephrite; who was on track to be harvested for failing to account for the turbulence that always comes with landing a colony ship that resulted in the unnecessary damage of various injectors.

A negligible mistake considering that said injectors were still able to perform their function, but in the eyes of the gem empire it was a scuff that was to be dealt with accordingly.

As the accused gem gets muscled out of the trial room and has the sliding doors closed behind them, Yellow Diamond lets out a small huff. “I certainly hope that was the last of our court cases for the day.” Yellow murmured from her fist which she rested her head on. “I still have to see the progress on those peridots Blue! I’m positive this batch won’t come out stunted.”

The robed authority to her left known as Blue Diamond stands up from her own throne and begins to make for the door. “Yes yes, that was the last one. You can carry on with your meteorite harvests in a moment, there is just one last thing we must discuss.”

Yellow Diamond is quick to meet her pace out of the pitch-black trial room. “And what might this be?” She asks with a quirk of her eyebrow. 

Blue turns to meet yellow’s gaze with an excited expression and grabbed on to her hands with fervor, taking to Diamond by surprise. “ What else? We are going to discuss Pink’s first colony! Oh this will be so exciting Yellow!”

  
  
...

Pink Diamond was not in a good mood right now. She just heard that a trial had just concluded as she passed through the grandouise palace hallways from a conversation being held by nearby amethyst guards. 

A trial? Held without _her_? Oh she was livid at the audacity of it all. How could Pink prove that she has what it takes to be a diamond when Blue, Yellow, or White wouldn’t even humor the idea of including her with their various councils and trails? She took purposeful steps back to her own room after confirming that this trial was indeed finished while her pearl tried to keep up with her. Once inside her room where she was positive that she can be secluded Pink began to rant.

“They did it _again_ pearl! They just up and did some important stuff without even so much as an invitation!” Pink growled out to her own pink pearl, who fumbled with her hands as she attempted to calm down her diamond.

“Well, perhaps they had meant to include you my diamond? Maybe they just forgot to--” 

“Of course they _forgot_ , just like how they seem to forget that I am one of them!” Pink interrupts her input on the subject with a harsh glare. As pink pearl flinches at her words she sees how Pink diamond’s strands of hair begin to slowly glow a fluorescent pink, a telltale sign of an oncoming tantrum. 

“I’m sure that they will include you, next...time…” Pink pearls’ attempt at reassurance falls flat in the air, the words ‘next time’ are just the words to set her diamond off.

Pink Diamond closes her eyes shut as she backhands her pearl with unbound strength, the force of the blow violently launching pink pearl to the wall with a dull crack. The last thing she sees past her tear-filled eyes is a harsh pink glow before poofing back to her gem.

The dull clacking of her pearls’ gem hitting the floor snaps Pink out of her stupor, and she is immediately upon the vulnerable gem that lies in front of the fractured wall of her own doing. “Pearl!” She cried out as she holds the ellipsoid in her trembling palms. Shortly after Pink cups her pearl in her hands a series of squeaking steps are heard approaching from behind only to be followed up with a serpentine hug from Spinel, a gem manufactured to keep up with Pink Diamonds’ attention span.

“Yippee! Pink’s back Pink’s back!” the animated gem repeats as she loops her arms around her best friend. “ I heard some shouting and a _bang_ and-” Spinel cuts herself off as she finally sees Pink’s tear-ridden face and the now dull coloured pearl in her palms. Spinel’s heart shaped gem pained to see her best friend in such anguish, and she was quick to attempt to cheer her up.

“H-hey, don’t be sad! Her lil’ ol’ gem looks perfectly fine! Nothing a little waiting game can’t fix right?” Spinel offered. These words managed to make the tears stop, but Pink Diamond still didn’t look happy.

“It’s her gem,” she finally said, “It looks like its lost its’... pink.” 

Spinel puts her fist to her chin and peers toward the poofed pearl with her eyes slowly extending from their sockets before snapping back into place as Pink begins to speak again.

“I’ve never seen a gem do this before Spinny. Oh stars what have I done.” Pink choked back a sob as spinel rubbed circles around her back, bless her gem.

Pink was going to have to talk to White about this, and considering how berating the Matriarch can be with her issues that she brings up, she cycles through all the potential punishments she will be subject to.

_I don’t care if they lock me away or force Blue’s aura on me, as long as pearl is fixed I’ll take anything they dish out!_

Pink began the long walk towards White Diamond’s chamber with spinel in tow. Her face was set with determination, but the strong grip on Spinel’s hand betrayed her nervousness as she formulated her story to tell White in order to downplay her own punishment. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This concludes chapter one  
> Expect a picture to go with a scene at the end of each chapter, because I love to see when fanfics include art and I figured I would contribute.  
> The picture here is Pink Diamond holding her poofed Pink Pearl


	2. Reprimanded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where we see Pink try to explain herself to White Diamond

The crystalline chamber of White Diamond was aglow with various floating screens that were each attended by mirror-perfect holograms of herself, save for the lack of pupils in their eyes. As the figurehead of gemkind there was no shortage of transmissions and reports of varying subjects that she needed to sift through as her responsibility, but her mastery of projections and stamina threshold to maintain the phantoms allows her to keep the cogs of her empire running at full capacity.

She turns her attention towards one of her screens as she reads a message from Yellow Diamond asking her to send Pink to her extraction chamber for matters to be discussed. Before she can reply with a response White is interrupted by her pearls’ announcement,

“My Incandescence, it appears that Pink Diamond is approaching your chamber during your work period. Shall I request her to return another time?” She asks, finger still hovering over her own personal screen.

“That won’t be necessary. Actually,” White turns to her pearl and plucks her from where she stands and pulls her eye-level, “I’ve been waiting for an excuse to take a break. Open the door, let’s see what trifle bothers her now.” White orders down to Pearl as she puts her back down. Pearl stumbles a moment before recollecting herself and seeing to the mechanism that opens the door to the corridor so that Pink Diamond may walk through without pause; a courtesy act the other pearls have made a habit of recently. Not a moment later Pink rushes in with Spinel following behind her who moves herself to the sideline to Pearls' right, giving the two Diamonds space. 

“Starlight what a surprise! You seem to be in a good mood.” White expresses with a sweet smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. Pink can’t stand it when White Diamond acts like this, when she is figuratively and literally looking down on her but pushes aside her frustration to get to the reason they are here in the first place.

“White, there was a… something happened with my pearl. I didn’t mean to but I was mad and you guys held a trial without me and-” Pink stops her rambling and simply thrusts her palm holding her Pearl’s gem upwards towards White. The Matriarch then picks up the Pearl with her pointed black nails and places the poor thing onto her own palm. She closes her eyes and tut-tuts in a condescending manner as she stares down at the guilty diamond in front of her before starting,

“Look at what you’ve done to your pearl now Pink. You couldn’t hold your bearing and now she was collateral damage, and you  _ still _ wonder why I don’t trust you with responsibility.” The words are like weights on Pink Diamond’s gem, and the jab at her situation even makes Spinel and Pearl wince slightly at the exchange as they stand off to the side.

With a sigh White continues, “You’ve got a ways to go, Starlight. I will take this mote off your hands for you and see what trouble you’ve caused her now.” White bubbles the little (not so) Pink Pearl in her palm and kneels towards the downtrodden Pink standing at her feet and lifts her gaze to meet hers with both palms at the sides of her puffy face.

“We are done here. Go to Yellows’ extraction chamber, she might have news to share with you that I know will alleviate your poor mood.” White finishes her dialogue by wiping stray tears from Pink’s face with her large thumbs, but leaves them by the sides of her cheeks as they meet gazes for a moment longer.

“If it is something that requires your position of power, do  **not** break your posture. I can only be ignorant to your errors for so long until I have to do something about it.” 

The entire time she says this White Diamond is slowly applying pressure to the face of Pink, whose smooshed face elicits a suppressed snort from Spinel as well as making White’s own pearl purse her own lips to keep a smile from forming. Pink’s face is then released from her elder’s grasp and with a small rub to her cheeks she is out the door to see what reason she could be needed for in Yellows’ extraction room. 

“C’mon Spinel. We are done here.” Pink declares as she makes a move to leave the room. Spinel gives White Diamond a diamond salute and a little "toodle loo" wave to Pearl before trotting to the side of her best friend as she begins to talk about whatever nonsense was backed up in her head during her period of silence in the chamber. Once the door is closed behind them White simply shakes her head and resumes her work with her screens and self-spectres filling the room once more.

  
_ A well deserved break indeed _ , White thought,  _ now where was I... _

_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter two. 
> 
> I like the idea that White Diamond is very hands on with her subjects here, and will touch whatever gem she is addressing at least one time.
> 
> The picture is White smooshing Pink's little face


	3. Landfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Pink takes her first steps

The extraction chambers were like individual slices of Nirvana for the Diamond Authority. It was here that they can step away from the stress and anarchy of running a galaxy-spanning empire and simply let loose as they allow their accumulated essence to be rinsed from their forms in a manner similar to sitting in a sauna or bath. It was also in these special rooms that the Diamonds can have casual conversations with each other about current events, like how Yellow, Blue, and Pink Diamond are currently doing right now.

“I don’t mind an extraction, but can you just tell me why you called me here? I’ve got stuff on my mind.” Inquires a slack-bodied Pink Diamond, whose form is largely dwarfed by the other two Diamonds sharing the room with her. Blue Diamond chuckles as she flicks her fingers at her junior, causing her light blue dilution to spray in a small mist in Pink’s face and hair.

“Alright then I’ll get to it. It’s just that it has been a century since we’ve been together like this and I wanted to relish the moment.” Blue explains before sitting up straight in her seat. At this motion Yellow Diamond turns her head towards Pink and begins,

“With this surge in planetary resources we are experiencing, there has come a situation with what to do with celestial bodies that hold potential but are placed as lower priority for colonization.” 

At this Pink brings her attention to the looming Yellow but keeps her mouth shut as Blue begins to finish the message.

“We understand that you have been begging for a colony of your own, and with what Yellow had just explained this may well be the best opportunity to see if you really are capable of running your own col-”

The rest of Blue Diamond’s news wouldn’t come to pass as she would be interrupted by a high octave squeal from Pink, sending cracks along the walls and ceiling of the extraction chamber.

(...)

In the following years we would see Pink learn the basics of colonization as well as receive extensive classes about the types of gems that she would be producing and what environments they best cultivate in. It was exciting to finally be independent after so long, but after the moon base in which she resided was erected and she sent the first injectors to make landfall for her first batch of Quartz soldiers she found herself slammed with boredom. 

There was occasionally a suggestion of exploring the ball of blue and green she overlooked, but it was thoroughly stressed by her Diamond superiors that gracing an uncultivated planet with their presence was beneath them. Even after they explained that there was rarely a time to touch down on a planet marked for colonization the thought still permeated in Pink Diamonds mind. All she could do now was simply go through the schematics of her future architectural structures which included various sky arenas, sea spires, and temples.

“Can you imagine running a colony would be  _ this  _ dull?” Pink Diamond finally says to her two companion gems, startling them from their fixation on the holo-screen in front of them.

Pearl begins first, “I could imagine it, if you’d like me to my Diamond.” Her attempt at reassurance falls flat, as it only elicits a depressed sigh from Pink. Spinel tries her hand at cheering her best friend up with a goofy handstand and a quip,

“If colonization was easy, then everybody would do it!”

This brings a smile to Pinks’ face, much to the annoyance of Pearl. After settling down Pink begins to sit up straighter in her throne and asks Pearl to show the status of the Prime Kindergarten, which is then displayed in the air as a hologram of the planet with new markers blinking above the coordinates of the aforementioned area. All eyes are on the display as Pearl begins,

“The first Quartz soldiers are due to emerge soon.” Pearl announces with less than stellar enthusiasm, but this news begins to fill Pink with jovial energy as she roughly grabs both Pearl and Spinel and lunges downward to the observation orb in the floor below them to see her first batch gems rise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter three
> 
> I was very indecisive with how the chapter should be laid out and had to revise it a few times. It really should not have taken as long as it did
> 
> The picture we have is Pink manhandling poor Pearl and Spinel to see her first gems come to life


	4. Incognito

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Rose makes her debut

One by one throughout the kindergarten Amethyst Quartz soldiers began to rise and interact with each other. Their conversations and jeers are muted however, as the observation orb in which Pink, Pearl, and Spinel are viewing the growing platoons is only providing a visual presentation of the surface. This was quickly discovered by Pink when she eagerly attempted to welcome a freshly awoken Quartz only for the gem to nonchalantly phase through her. Pink Diamond looked over her shoulder to where the Quartz held a few other gems in a headlock and gave a wistful sigh.

“I wish I could be down there and meet them all. Look at how much fun they are having!” Laments Pink as she stands back up. After looking over the various cliques being formed on the planet Spinel cranes her neck in an ‘L’ shape towards Pink.

“Well then why don’tcha? You made them, so it’s fair.” Spinels’ naivety was met with Pearl clearing her voice to get her attention.

“My Diamond has no need to visit her colony while it is still so... _ undeveloped _ ,” Pearl explained with a shudder. “ There is no reason to, except for providing hospitality for visiting aristocrat gems and verifying completed projects.” 

“And I would never hear the end of it from Yellow or Blue. Just imagine the fun I could have down on Earth.” With a wave of her hand Pink Diamond dissipates the visual feed of the surface and slowly takes the steps back to her seat in the deck above them. Pearl and Spinel glance at one another and shrug before following her upwards.

Once seated down Pink lays her head on her folded arms as she replays the recent memory of all her Amethysts getting together and laughing like they’ve known each other their entire lives. 

Which they have, considering that they were all only a few minutes old but that wasn’t the point. 

It was the friendship the Quartzes effortlessly built with one another that she was jealous of. She was never so affectionate with her sisters in authority;  _ maybe _ the few times she was groomed and bathed with Blue back when she first emerged would count, but that was so long ago she’s beginning to doubt that it ever happened at all. Her nose scrunched at the reality of being down in person; the saluting, the fawning behind her back, the ‘ _ my Diamond! _ ’ and ‘ _ So radiant _ !’ she heard a thousand times over. 

Suddenly an idea popped into her head. 

‘They would only give customs and courtesies to their Diamond if she was down there, but what if they saw someone that  _ wasn’t _ their Diamond? Who would know if there was one more of them just wandering to say hi? Not like anyone is going say otherwise~’

_ Oh yeah, it’s all coming together _

Pink Diamond’s smile began to increase as this train of thought chugged along. She delved back into the archives of her mind and picked the memory of the last Quartz she saw from the observation orb before changing her form accordingly. Right as she finished shifting Pink turned to see a flabbergasted Pearl and a Star-struck Spinel who had both walked in right as she made the sudden transformation into a Rose Quartz from the surface. With a dramatic pose and a quick rake of her fingers through her curly bubblegum hair Pink announced with flair,

“This is Rose Quartz, incognito for the brilliant and beautiful Pink Diamond!” 

Spinel could only clap at the promise of this game of pretend that Pink has concocted while Pearl simply puts a hand to her mouth, mind reeling at the fact that this was a Diamond willing to be a lower caste gem. Next thing she knew she was pulled yet again alongside Pink-...er, Rose Quartz towards the warp pad before turning to Rose’s voice.

“Alright Pearl, take us down to the Prime Kindergarten.” Rose says with barely contained glee. With a small amount of hesitance Pearl pulls a light blue warp whistle from her gem and plays the melody for the location of the Kindergarten. 

There is a flash of light from the activation before it disappears, revealing the grey undertones of the Kindergarten that holds the surge of Amethyst and Rose Quartzes idly standing by. Rose squeals at the sight before her and pulls Spinel and Pearl into a tight hug, causing both respective gems to get flustered at the sudden contact.

“We’ve gotta go down and check it out!” Rose all but shouts before jumping down to the lowest level with a controlled descent while Spinel giggles as she bounces her way down behind her, leaving Pearl to awkwardly make her way down the steep cliffside. 

She makes it halfway before losing her footing and tumbles the rest of the way down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter four
> 
> I'm hoping to include different points of view from Pink, Pearl, and Spinel in the next chapter on their little escapade of earth
> 
> The drawing is Pink turned Rose Quartz in front of Pearl and Spinel


	5. Work Ethic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Pink gets back to work

Pearl has seen quite a few things in her lifespan; the birth of gems, the destruction of worlds from colonization, even stars born from cosmic nothing in nebulas, but she can say with confidence that the sight before her was one that she’d never imagine witnessing. 

A Diamond, one of the beings with supreme authority over her species, was pretending to be a grunt foot soldier and playing in the flower fields of the planet she was currently overseeing. Even with her time under White Diamond she has never even heard of the idea of a Diamond stepping down from their pedestals on top to interact with the planets under their care. 

She was interrupted by her recollections by the beckoning call of Pink Diamond who was still under the guise of her Rose-Quartz persona as she frantically waved her down to sit next to her. Pearl complied, partly because it was an order and partly because at the rate the kindergarten was processing gems it would soon be time to get back to work. Still, what harm was there in enjoying the scenery? Pearl took a seat in the flower bed that both Spinel and her Diamond were residing in with a smile and let herself relax, if just for this moment.

(...)

  
  


If Spinel had to put today on the list of best days ever, it would definitely be on top. Not only had her best friend made this game of pretend to finally get out of that boring tower on the moon, but she also made friends with all those freshly-emerged gems! She could count on one hand the gems who could probably say the same thing. The icing on this proverbial cake was that it even managed to get that stick out of the behind of Pink’s new Pearl and bring her to smile and laugh. She quirked an eyebrow and smirked at Pearl to tease her for finally loosening up, earning a cleared throat and flushed blue face as Pearl attempted to recollect herself. 

Now she can see why Pink was so adamant to have her own colony. The beauty and entertainment of it all was so much fun that she could hardly wrap her little head around it. 

She was so glad to have been brought along for this journey with Pink Diamond.

When the trio returned to the kindergarten to access the warp pad they took one last look at the night sky before being transported back by Pearl playing her warp whistle. Once back on the moon base Pink Diamond began to conjure a report to send to the other three diamonds. She included general information in the document; coordinates, status of grown amethysts, and guidance on the best course of action to take next. Once sent up after revisions and spell checks on Pearls’ part, the three gems sat together and began recounting all the memories they had made during their day of play down on Earth.

(...)

On homeworld things had largely remained unchanged, and it was in the monotony of it all that the Authority decided to have a small break to themselves in their own private chambers. Here we find White Diamond, grand matriarch of gemkind, floating casually in a cylindrical aquarium structure with various pipes and mechanisms attached to the sides. The massive pod doubled as a therapeutic float spa for herself as well as a means to extract the essence from the Diamond for the production of future gems. In the middle of her relaxation she heard the chiming of a message getting received and had made a sour face at the source of her interruption.

“Pearl, see who has decided to bother me now.” White all but drawled out to her replacement pearl, whose bleached hands reached out to access the message on the monitor before her. Blank porcelain eyes scanned the message as Pink’s old Pearl twisted on her toes to face White Diamond, who rested her elbow on the pod’s rim while running a hand through her damped tresses. 

“It appears that Pink Diamond’s colony has begun its first steps of progress. She has also requested advice on what should be her next course of action.” The pearl announced with one unchanging tone. White Diamond rose from her extraction and phased her flowing robe back onto her form.

“So soon? It should have taken at least a few more decades before harvest. At least she had the mind to ask for advice now rather than later.” White chuckled into her hand as she made her way to leave her chamber. She plucked her pearl from the ground and held the absent thing in between her knuckles before starting again,

“I am requesting council with Yellow and Blue Diamond. See to it that they are present by the end of the cycle so that we may provide assistance to Pink Diamond”. Once the order was decreed White Pearl rendered the Diamond salute and shifted through the wall to carry her duty. White turned to a mirror and prepared her slicked down hair into the geometric crowned style she was associated with, giving her reflection a wink before proceeding to meet with Yellow and Blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter five
> 
> In the next chapter I plan for Pink to see the damaging results of gem colonization, and hopefully begin the rebellion
> 
> The picture is White Diamond with her hair down in extraction. 
> 
> It makes me feel giddy to see the gems with different hairstyles. I wish there was more art of it


	6. Fine then

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Pink witnesses the effect of her presence on Earth

One thing that was noticeable about the structures of Pink’s Earth colony was the inclusion of local plant life. The young Diamond seemed to have an obvious affinity for botany; as proven by the copious amount of flowers and trees adorning the balconies and hallways of her now constructed arena and lunar spire. The Bismuths who had their architectural techniques challenged by allowing plants to be grown and thrive welcomed this new change and accepted the task of incorporating plant life.

With a trove of flowers personally planted by the entrance of a soon-to-be communication hub, Pink Diamond ushered her partners in crime Spinel and Pearl to get close.

“I can’t believe how far this is all coming along! And White said I could not handle the responsibility, phooey!” Exclaimed Pink with her tongue sticking out of her mouth. Spinel giggled at her antics, and even Pearl brought a hand to her mouth to hide a smile at the jeering of White Diamond.

Being on Earth had really changed Pearl from how she was when first reassigned under Pink Diamond; forgoing the stiff, concise answers to rhetorical questions by gradually loosening up and allowing herself to laugh and be seen as more than just a Pearl.

Maybe that’s why she became more lenient with Pink and Spinel’s quirks,and it was soon after spending time together that she felt a warm fondness emanate from her gem during the moments they shared when the time for work was over, few and far as they might be. This recollection was disturbed by gloved finger pressing itself against Pearls’ nose.

“You still with us Pearlie? You just went still as a statue.” asked Spinel with a small amount of concern in her voice. 

That was another thing that Pearl had noticed with her time alongside Spinel; she was more observant than she let on. Yes she can be a jokester with her bubbly attitude but whenever it came down to business with the other Diamonds or associating with any visiting aristocrat gems Spinel would maintain a professional appearance.

‘ _ As professional as a gem whose entire purpose was to be a jester can be _ ’ Pearl thought to herself before answering in kind.

“Just thinking is all. What was it we were talking about?” Pearl asked before clearing her throat. Her guilt of not having heard the conversation in front of her was shown with a small teal blush gracing her face.

“Pink said we were gonna go back to the Prime kindergarten incognito again to have a break! We are headed there now.” Spinel explained to Pearl. 

It was a routine to return to the kindergarten whenever Pink Diamond decided to take a break and enjoy her colony being as it was the place that inspired her to take on her form of a Rose-Quartz to casually interact with the gems thriving under her. 

The trip was short thanks to the ingenuity of the warp pads, and in no time the trio had arrived at the ravine housing the Prime Kindergarten. Upon arrival the scene before Pink and her entourage was drastically different than the last time they had visited, and the sight before them gradually sucked away all previous excitement.

With its purpose fulfilled, the Prime Kindergarten was decommissioned and all gems on deck were relocated after having sucked as much lifeforce from the surrounding area as it could in its mission to birth gems, leaving behind a grey husk where the once-brown ravine had been. The surrounding dirt they saw was so devoid of nutrition that it could almost be mistaken as ash, leaving no solution to rid the industrial smell of the injector compound that lingered so heavily in the air.

Everything was _dead_ , simple as that.

Pink Diamond turned her head side to side so she can see just how far this deadzone had stretched, but soon put a hand to her mouth upon realizing that the damage snaked its way upwards to the flower fields above. With haste Pink grabbed Spinel and Pearl in a side hug and lifted them up with her only to be met with yet another depressing sight.

The flower fields that they had spent so many days in was not spared by the draining after effects, and while Pearl had known that this was the inevitable result of colonization, she was surprised to see how appalled her Diamond looked.

“I did this…” Pink said aloud as she knelt down to pluck a dry branch from the ground; pieces of bark peeling off at the sudden movement.

“It was bound to happen my diamond," Pearl said solemnly, "the process of making gems takes up so much from the ground they come from that-” Pearl began to explain before getting cut off from an agitated Pink Diamond.

“That it just kills the planet?! Tell me there is a way to change this to how this was.” Pink all but begged as she clasped the shoulders of Pearl who began to see a few strands of Pink’s curly hair slowly glow neon pink. Fearing for her own gem, Pearl attempted to diffuse the upset Diamond,

“I-I don’t know if there is a way, this is how its always been my Diamond. Perhaps you can ask the other Diamonds if they have a way to put life back?” Pearl finished, silently pleading that this lame answer would calm her down.

Pink seemed content with this and relinquished the death grip she had on Pearl before bringing her hands to her sides.

“I’m sorry for getting rough with you my Pearl. It wasn’t your fault that this ended up happening, but I know this can’t be the only way to do things.” Pink took one last look at the derelict Kindergarten in front of her before bringing Pearl and Spinel to the warp pad, the latter of the two having been silent since arriving.

“We can fix this, right Pinky? Can we find a way to bring the flowers back?” Spinel asked in a morose tone that both Pink Diamond and Pearl had never heard before. Her head was pat both gems before Pink says to her with a reassuring smile,

“We’ll fix this; let’s find a way to make sure that the earth can still live under us so this can never happen again.”

Spinel cracks a smile at the promise, and the trio of gems all hold each others’ hands as they warp to the moon base.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter six
> 
> Pink Diamond has her plants, Blue Diamond has her water, Yellow Diamond has her electricity, and White Diamond has her jurisdiction. I found that each one gets gradually harder to represent
> 
> The picture is Spinel we see concerned over her day-dreaming buddy Pearl


	7. Listen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Pink makes up her mind

Some centuries would come to pass before Pink Diamond could find the time to convene with the other Diamonds. The life of maintaining a growing colony soon proved to be more time consuming than anticipated, and Pink found herself having less and less time to enjoy the planet Earth.

All she could do was stand by and watch life from her little planet get sapped away in lieu of the establishment of new territory for the Gem Empire. Her wake-up call in the Prime Kindergarten with Pearl and Spinel had shown her that she was not making life from nothing like she had so naively believed. 

_ We’re taking life, and leaving nothing behind _

This realization was also shared among the gems that had been on the Earth the longest, most being other Rose-Quartz and Amethysts. Their fondness came to be from their fair share of downtime spent alongside the local fauna which included whistling contests with birds, races with wild horses, and even wrestling with the curious humans that would occasionally inspect their construction progress. It was a depressing conclusion that this lifestyle would not last as time went on, and the gradual energy that was sucked from the land made this point known as the birds flew away to fresher skies and the humans migrated to greener lands. 

There was no use in humoring hypotheticals, yet the idea still gestated inside the minds of the various gems that had become fond of the Earth in the same way it formed inside Pink Diamond. 

_ What if there was another way _

  
  


(...)

  
  


After what had seemed like an eternity Pink was able to bring both Yellow and Blue Diamond to her moon base to talk about an alternative way to grow gems without bringing genocide on a planet. After the formalities and announcements were made for Pink’s court to welcome the visiting Diamonds and their respective courts Pink had high hopes that she would find some sort of backup method that her superiors could know, but she was immediately shut down once the three were finally alone.

“You can’t be serious about this Pink,” stressed Yellow Diamond as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “These are just organics, there are a hundred  _ million _ just like them across the universe! Why would you care about keeping such wild things around?”

“Have you seen what colonization does Yellow? It ruins the planet! I was making my constructs beautiful with the available wildlife to prove how much I care, but now everything is losing its color. It’s starting to look just like Homeworld…” Pink trails off with a pout.

“And is there any reason why that is a problem?” inquires Blue Diamond behind her hood, “Homeworld is the standard, and for you to complain despite your  _ first _ colony doing this well is absolutely ungrateful of you. Do you know how difficult establishing our first colonies were?” Blue was becoming more irate at Pink’s attitude, shown by strands of blue highlights snaking their way down her own white hair.

“You begged us for a colony; you finally got one, and now you want to go against your purpose just for some insignificant organic life? What will be enough for you?” Blue hisses through a set jaw.

“You’re not  **listening** !” Pink Diamond snaps, “I’m not saying that I don’t want to stop making gems, I’m saying that there has to be another way than sucking innocent planets dry!”

“I’ve heard  _ enough _ ,” Yellow cuts in, “Pink Diamond, your attitude is entirely unwarranted. Standard kindergarten procedures will resume and this colony will continue in the same manner that it has always been. End of discussion.”

At this declaration Yellow Diamond straightens herself out and makes her way to leave. Pink ignores her and simply stares downward in defeat with crossed arms, but soon has her gaze lifted to face Blue Diamonds’ own.

“I understand that you are sentimental about your first colony. Yellow and I were the same way, once upon a time.” Blue explains with a small chuckle, “But if you still feel this strongly about the wildlife, I could commission a sanctuary to preserve as many organics as you ask. Would that work for you?”

Pink Diamond nods absentmindedly, simply just wanting her out. Her hope has been dashed and she just wanted to ride out the rest of her day before her mood could get worse. When the two senior Diamonds depart Pink is left sitting back on her moon base with the Earth overhead, scowling as she notices the dead zones created by the kindergartens are becoming visible from orbit. Noticing that Yellow and Blue were gone, Spinel begins to bounce her way towards Pink with Pearl in tow to see how her best friend was doing.

“Any good news on the-” Spinel halts as she sees the glare on Pinks’ face. Her own mood was brought down as she could only assume that such a nasty expression meant that there wasn't anything that could be done to save the Earth. With nothing else to say, the air was thick with an awkward atmosphere before Pink Diamond stood up suddenly.

“They couldn’t even bother humoring me. No matter what I do they just keep dismissing whatever I say! What can a gem do to get some acknowledgment around here?!” Pink held a contemplative pause as she looked back towards her friends who both snapped into a diamond salute. She peered at them a moment longer before shifting her form back into that of Rose-Quartz. Pearl looks at her sudden shift with furrowed brows, but before she can say anything Pink Diamond speaks,

“If they won’t listen to me as Pink Diamond, they can just listen to me as someone else.”

The looming figure of now Rose-Quartz finishes as her form dims, with the only difference being that the fuchsia Quartz uniform was traded for a white-tiered dress that exposed her gemstone in a star shaped cut-out. 

Pearl turns to shoot Spinel a worried glance, but can only look on as she fawns over the new form of Rose-Quartz like she didn’t just hear the declaration of war a moment ago. 

_ What are we getting ourselves into... _

_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter Seven
> 
> Drawing Rose's hair is a pain man. kudos to every artist that takes it upon themselves to draw Rose-Quartz
> 
> The picture is Rose in her rebel dress as she is investigated by Spinel


	8. Understood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Rose says goodbye

Pink Diamond, in her Rose-Quartz shell, had formulated a plan to persuade the gems on the surface to rally against the colonization of the planet. She was aware of the potential backlash of her actions and the secret of her alter ego, so before setting off she wanted to make sure her tracks were covered. As she approached the warp pad with Pearl to her side Rose turned to face Spinel,

“Spinel, there is something I need to ask of you.”

“Anything for my best pal! Does it have to do with your super secret plan?” Spinel asks with a smile.

“Yes it does. You see, I want to get through to the rest of the gems on my colony to see that what we are doing is wrong. I’ll need to be serious to make my point across, you following?”

Spinel nods her head at Rose’s question, unaware of the sour expression growing on Pearl’s face.

“So in order to  _ be _ serious I can’t have any distractions. What I’m trying to say is that I..I can’t have you present if I want to pull this off.”

Spinel’s face drops in an instant at Rose’s words.

_ I can be serious if I wanted! I couldn’t be that annoying can I? _

Spinel’s bottom lip began to quiver, but she kept her voice level, “Y-You don’t trust me Pink? I can play along just fine! These kinds of tricks are what Spinels are made for!” There was a desperation in the small gems' voice that made Pearl look away and Rose-Quartz sigh at the pathetic display.

“This is what I mean. What if there was someone listening to us right now? You would have just let slip that this Rose-Quartz was Pink Diamond.” Rose frowned at Spinel, causing the gem in question to shoot her gloved hands to her mouth with a small squeak.

“Oh...oh stars. I could have just ruined  _ everything _ . Pink...wait I-I mean Rose I,  **Argh** ! I’m so stupid! Stupid, stupid, stup-”

Spinel’s self deprecation was halted by a finger pressing itself to her lips. She looked past the tears in her eyes at Rose, who maintained a look of understanding.

“I want you to know that I don’t hate you for this Spinel, you just can’t help it. That’s why I would like you to be absent for when this goes on, just in case something goes wrong you can be innocent in all of it. But!” Exclaims Rose with a pointed index finger, “If everything goes how I see it, when I bring you back you’ll be welcomed in a whole new era.”

As much as Rose’s words stung Spinel at first, she couldn’t argue with her. She now sees the situation; wait out until Pink Diamond’s plan is finished, for better or for worse. She wipes a stray tear from her cheek before speaking,

“I get it. I’ll stay out of your way for you.” Spinel is brought into a tight hug by Rose, and immediately returns the gesture. 

“I didn’t want to hurt your feelings Spinel, but there was just no other way to put it.”

“It’s okay. But that reminds me,” Spinel separates herself from the hug before continuing, “Won’t the other gems start asking questions about how you as Pink Diamond will handle the drama, since I’m one of the closest to you?”

Rose thinks to herself for a moment until a realization hits her. “Let’s go to the Garden.”

(...)

The paradise of vegetation was still as beautiful as they left it; with it’s adequate sunlight and independent water systems made possible only with gem tech, this marvel of plant display could make any artist have a field day. It was the place where Pink and Spinel would play and escape from the monotony of Homeworld, and it would be here that Spinel would remain until Pink Diamond came back for her. 

There were a few tears shared between Pink, Spinel, and Pearl as they said their goodbyes, but soon they set apart so as to put the plan into motion. Spinel couldn’t help but giggle at the time when she would see Pink again, and she daydreamed about all the stories that would be shared at their reunion.

As she walked the pathways of the Garden to familiarize herself she noticed that the brightness given by the nearby star was higher than it was the last time she was here, unaware that the star was nearing the end of its life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter eight
> 
> I had a surge of inspiration hit me as I was at the gym which resulted in this chapter coming to light. This was more dialogue than I am used to writing, so I hope that the pacing of the conversation felt right
> 
> The picture is Rose saying goodbye to Spinel for the last time


	9. From bad to worse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where a protest turns to riots, and riots turn to war

The familiar routine of grounds maintenance was disturbed by an injector being thrown down to the freshly-swept opening of a Quartz barracks followed with an oddly dressed gem slowly landing on top of it. As ranks of various cuts trickle out to investigate the commotion their attention is grabbed by the mystery Rose-Quartz standing above them all.

“Is this what you want?! To inject and build?! I see the life that lives for itself, and it lives  **here!** Will you destroy it, or will you join it?!” Rose thunderously projects to the gathered crowd. 

The reason she started at a Quartz barracks was because she knew that they were the ones on the surface the longest, and in her escapades had come to find that there were other gems like herself that shared the same sentimentality for Earth. If there were any chances of recruiting numbers for the planets’ salvation, it would be with the aid of the lower-caste of gems.

Rose had honestly expected a more hesitant response, if not hostile, but was genuinely surprised at the amount of support her message was getting. Many gems in attendance saw it as an excuse to finally cut ties with the Empire, and finally had the push to rid themselves of the caste system that subjugated so many for so long. 

_ Step one: garner followers for a voice, complete _

With this platoon of Quartz soldiers and teams of Bismuth and Peridot gems, Rose’s next plan of action was to escort the party to the nearby Lunar Spire to boycott the ongoing terraforming, as well as attempt to sway the aristocrat gems’ opinions on the matter. This part she was nervous for, because Rose knew the upper class gems could be very spiteful and condescending when egged on by one another, but she was willing to take that risk. This course of action seemed to have gone on well enough when the smaller Sapphires and Aquamarines humored the gaggle of protesting gems, but all semblance of a peaceful protest would be squandered by the arrival of Peach Agate and Ruby gems from Pink Diamond’s own court. Their arrival meant that the crowd was going to be dispersed with rude words and a violent show of force in order to keep the peace, and the gathered aristocrats that knew this became delighted that there was finally some action occurring on the fledgling colony. They followed the Agates’ instructions to move away so as to not hinder their jobs as well as to see how the lower crusts will fare against the notoriously aggressive Agate cut in a sick display of entertainment. Rose did not want this plan to be solved with violence on either side, so she was quick to step between the crowds to play peacemaker.

“We are not here to cause a scene, we were just-” Rose’s words were cut off by a volt-filled whip being cracked inches from her bare feet. The offending Peach Agate wraps her whip back in her hand and walks forward to size up Rose.

“ _ You _ were just leaving. If you have no official business here then you are to return to your little squatting grounds and fraternize there.”

The retort caused the onlooking noble gems to laugh and point fingers at her, riling the protesting side of gems to break from their mob and spread out to surround the guard force in front of them. At this the Agates all brandished their whips and the rubies joined to form a mega fusion to discourage the group from descending into a riot, which only earned more shouting from the protesters. Rose and Pearl both saw how quickly things had gone out of control and attempted to talk down the aroused Bismuths and Amethysts around them, but their pleas were either shrugged off or ignored entirely by the energy in the chaos. 

As the Agates began to shove back the angry crowd and crack their whips in a menacing show of force Rose began to believe that this was the sign to retreat and began to shepard her followers away from the Spire with hopes that her message was received, but failed to see one invigorated Jasper-Quartz break free and rush the Peach Agate that threatened Rose.

It all happened in an instant; the Quartz’ yell, a whip being cracked, and the unmistakable sound of a gem being poofed with her vulnerable stone hitting the ground to follow. 

For a moment Rose’s group stopped shouting, the Agates stopped ordering, and the nobles stopped laughing. Time seemed to stop as every gem stood where they were and drank in the sight of the Agate that poofed the Quartz. It remained like this for a second longer before both crowds met eyes, only to rush at each other with all their weapons drawn in a full-blown riot.

Rose stood dumbstruck as her group shoved passed her while Pearl could only look on with her hands over her mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter nine
> 
> The peach agate is just a placeholder role because I needed a gem that was pink in coloration.
> 
> I don't foresee myself using many more non-canon gems, but that is always subject to change.
> 
> The picture is Rose showing the Agate she means no harm


	10. Foretold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where a new path is made

“You  _ begged _ us for a colony, but now you’ve let your planet fall into civil war! This is a completely unprecedented action in our history Pink!” Yellow Diamond scolded the smaller diamond, who simply held her gaze to the floors of the marble chamber they were in.

“Don’t yell at her Yellow, it’s not her fault!” sniveled Blue Diamond as she struggled to control her aura. “It’s those little outlaw rebels that decided to stage this disaster. Ungrateful peons…” 

As the conversation shifted from Pink Diamond to the other two Diamonds arguing, Pink remained still before them with her arms behind her back as she awaited the input of the senior diamond; White, who had not torn her gaze away from Pink the entire time. Accusations were being thrown to put the blame on someone for the rise of these troublesome “Crystal Gems” before White extended her hand between the riled up duo to silence them both.

“This...is a peculiar situation to say the least. But it is not too far from what happens when a gem goes rogue, it is just on a larger scale.” White began as she knifes her way through Yellow and Blue to loom over the minuscule Pink.

“And what right do we have to deal with a gem out of line, dearie?” Inquires White as she makes a downward flick of her finger on the tip of Pink’s nose. But before Pink can offer her response of peace and getting to know another’s viewpoint Blue cuts in for her,

“We  _ shatter _ them. We make an example of those who would defy their purpose to others like them, and see how much they really want to reject what they were made for.” Blue finishes with a closing of her hand into a fist, earning a nod of approval from Yellow and an approving hum from White.

Pink Diamond couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She knew that her superiors were dismissive to the lower gem but to actually stand before them and listen to their  _ solution _ for a group who just wants change?

_ It made the rebel hidden within her furious, wanting nothing more than to unsheath the masterwork saber a rebel Bismuth crafted to ruin the image of the “perfect” diamonds _

_...But that violence wouldn’t make her any different than them, would it? _

With a small exhale, Pink says her first words since arriving to their meeting,

“I know what I have to do.” Was her reply; concise and vague, much to the pleasure of White Diamond.

“I’m sure that you do.” White says condescendingly as she tousles Pink’s fluffy hair with her index finger before standing to her full height and making a move to leave. Yellow Diamond was next to follow with a brief goodbye to the remaining duo, but Blue didn’t go out with them. Instead of leaving with the other two, the blue robbed figure kneels down to Pink,

“I can’t stand to see them hassle you like that you know. It’s not your fault your colony isn’t coming out right.”

Pink takes her words with a smile, but still cringes inwardly at the backhanded comment. She knows she means well but damn, she could have definitely worded it better.

“I have a lot to live up to Blue, now if you’ll excuse me…” Pink makes her way to the port her ship is docked but stops a few feet into her trek to see Blue Diamond still by her side. Seeing the confused look on Pink’s face, Blue tilts her head in equal confusion before explaining herself,

“Had we not told you? We had decided that it would be best for me to accompany you back to aid in your “Crystal Gem” infestation.”

_ Of course you hadn't told me. Who ever spares a thought for- what?! _

“We are positive that another diamond’s presence will boost morale and be a deterrent for those rebels. I know you are uncomfortable with our methods of apprehension, so I will be by your side to do the dirty work. You won't even have to do anything! ” Blue finishes with a smile, which Pink reciprocates to hide the dread building within her. 

She needed to get word back fast.  
  


* * *

When the news that another Diamond was coming to the aid of Pink, the band of rebel gems were shaken to say the least. They saw how meekly the Pink monarch handled their incursions and sabotage parties and took advantage of that, but every rogue gem dubbed as a “Crystal Gem” understood the threat that was Blue Diamond.

She was a shatterer; a remorseless being that warped one’s own emotions against them to strip them of their will to fight. She didn’t have many warriors or millenia of battle prowess like Yellow Diamond, but that control over one of the few strands of a gems’ individuality was a power in its own category. 

At the guidance of their leader Rose-Quartz, they were to make a surprise visit at the port where Blue Diamond’s court was to arrive and dissuade any chance of her being able to aid by wringing as much chaos as they could.

It was anticipated that the reinforcements would arrive within the next few days, which gave the growing band of Crystal Gems ample time to prepare to defend their newfound home.

(...)

“...And that’s how we will be welcomed within moments of landing my Diamond.” curtsied a Sapphire as she stood before Blue Diamond. She had been patron to this expedition for her gem’s clairvoyance ability, and this prediction was one of the things that was not immediately prepared for. 

Sapphire laid out the timeline for her Diamond; the rebels would attack, gems were to be poofed on both sides, to include herself and her ruby guards, but their hubris would make them vulnerable to Blue’s power. Once apprehended the rebellion will suffer a substantial blow, and the allotted break will allow a stronghold to settle to crush the resistance in its entirety. Satisfied with this new information, Blue dismissed her and had landing procedures follow as planned.

Like clockwork, the rebels did attack, and Sapphire’s fellow nobles and guards were poofed in the scuffle as it all transpired under the mile-long flagship of Blue Diamond. Her ruby guards were taken over in a flash of white before a blurred figure stood before her; none other than the renegade Pearl that was whispered about the entire trip from Homeworld to Earth.

Sapphire anticipated being a casualty, but had not foreseen it being done by this gem, whose dual-wielding style and piercing eyes made her lithe frame loom like that of an Agate. She subconsciously flinched as the pearl raised her weapons before being tackled by one remaining ruby.

The next thing she knew, her world exploded into color.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter 10
> 
> I might not have been in the community too long, but I can appreciate the show and the impact it had on many people's lives. The ending left some questions unanswered for me but as a whole I felt it let the series end on a good note. Thank you Rebecca and the crewniverse
> 
> The picture is the renegade standing over Sapphire


	11. Well met

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where a new ally is made

When the renegade Pearl slashed and poofed her two partners in arms, Ruby couldn’t help but stare in awe at the aura that gem carried over her. When they were together as a tri-fused Ruby she thought that dispensing the rebels; a Pearl at that, would be just another day, but she could not have been more wrong.

The rebels just seemed to know Homeworld tactics and understood how to foil any gem they came into contact with. It just did not compute, considering that these Crystal Gem forces consisted of grunt soldiers and lowly engineers. Ruby would have pondered how they had such flawless strategy, but she had to focus on her assignment.

Protect the Sapphire per  _ Blue Diamond _ herself.

It was this devotion to her purpose that drove her from her prone position to the aid of her Sapphire, and with a cry of defiance she had managed to save her from being cut down by that elusive Pearl.

What Ruby did not count on was the pulling force that formed between herself and the Sapphire as their hardlight forms illuminated brightly before molding into each other. 

After a near-overload of senses and a kaleidoscope of memories being combined together all that was left of the two gems was one confused fusion eliciting attention from all sides.

(...)

‘ _ A cross fusion? I didn’t think something like that could be tolerated _ …’ Thought Rose-Quartz from her perched position overlooking the sky arena. She was honestly surprised that Homeworld would allow such a tactic that not even  _ she  _ had considered, but it was clearly shown from the opposing forces that it was unintentional.

The poor thing couldn’t even stand properly as she was being berated by her component’s former allies. All she could do was flinch at each affronted reaction as the fighting began to conclude. Rose had the right mind to swoop down to move this new fusion away from the battlefield, but was immediately halted by the sight of a large blue sphere descending from the looming armship to reveal Blue Diamond’s palanquin. 

With all her remaining forces dispersed Rose could only look on in despair at the group forming around the poofy haired fusion, knowing full well that she was as good as shattered. At the arrival of the colossal palanquin the fusion squeaked and quickly unfused, with both remaining gems ducking their heads at the lynch mob surrounding them. Among the crowd, Blue Diamond’s cutting voice silenced the commotion,

“Sapphire, this was  _ not _ in your prediction. Have you been withholding information from me?” She accused the kneeling gem before her. Quickly thinking to save her own life, Sapphire immediately responded,

“I-I would never my Diamond! This is not what I saw, I don’t what happened I-” but before her stammering explanation could be finished the Ruby whom she had fused with jumped to her defense.

“It was me! I saw how she was going to be poofed and I just couldn’t let it happen!” the feisty gem justified. Sapphire looked up at her escort in astonishment at the mix of bravery and stupidity she had displayed in the past few hours.

This was not enough to satisfy Blue’s growing ire however, and the deep blue aura she emitted began to distort the air around her palanquin marginally.

“And fusing with a member of my court was the only way to do that? I know you rubies were idiotic, but this is  _ inconcievable _ !” The towering monarch yelled, whose venomous words began sapping all confidence in the scolded Ruby. 

“You will be shattered for this, as for the incompetent Sapphire,” Blue’s tone made Sapphire flinch, “I will decide your punishment when we get back to my ship.”

With her iron-clad judgment passed Blue Diamond motioned for her guards to subdue the condemned gems, but before they could get close enough Sapphire quickly grabbed Ruby by the arm and made a leap of faith off the side of the now ruined sky arena. The shouts of Blue’s court grow quieter as the two descend to the planet below, now on the run as fugitives.

* * *

A sightseeing journey paired with conversation about the two different worldviews each gem experienced all their lives made Ruby and Sapphire grow fond of each other. After a week together Ruby finally decided to ask the question resting on both of their minds.

“Do you want to try it again? Fusion?”

This startled Sapphire, as she was not expecting to be offered to repeat the action that excommunicated the two. But she did not say no immediately, in fact she was also interested in attempting to fuse once again.

To embrace the heat that clashed with her cool, the brawn that mirrored her grace, and to finally have more than one eye! 

Sapphire nodded in agreement and let herself be hoisted up to be set into a slow dance with Ruby, and the two simply stepped together for a moment before laughing at the absurdity of their situation. Their laughs grew as they gleefully began to spin together before their forms blended into each other once again, now with time to be able to adjust to this new identity.

Their first steps were clumsy, being as Sapphire had no experience with fusion and they were soon tumbling down the side of a cliff into a bush before any real progress could be made. 

As they (She? They still didn’t know) gained their bearing a blade was pointed downward mere inches from their face, with the renegade Pearl at the other end. She peered down at the figure before her before lowering her weapon slightly in recognition.

“It’s you...the fusion from the sky arena…”

The Sapphire inside wanted to recoil in fear, but Ruby made them clench their fists and lower into a squatting position before challenging, 

“Don’t hurt her! I mean me...us?”

The drop in the fusions’ confidence made Pearl sheath her weapon as she gave her an amused look, but before another word could be said the duo was met with none other than Rose-Quartz. The fusion tried to justify her actions and had pleaded to not be hurt or turned over back to Homeworld, but was only met with a friendly laugh and an extended hand from the rebel leader. Confused at the gesture, the amalgam gem had to ask,

“Why are you showing me mercy? Don’t you care that I’m wrong?”

Rose quirked an eyebrow at this self-depreciation before grabbing their hand and hoisting them into a side hug.

“Welcome to Earth, where you can be as wrong as you want.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter 11
> 
> My plan is to wrap the rebellion within the next two chapters, then hop to a timeskip bringing us to the near-present canon
> 
> I still am struggling to draw hands
> 
> The drawing is Rose welcoming the new Crystal Gem


	12. Demon Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where the seeds of independence are crushed

The Diamonds sat in their conference room with a heavy silence; the source of this gloom being the empty fourth corner that belongs, or rather _belonged_ , to the late Pink Diamond. 

News had come from the frontlines that amongst fresh defectors and an abomination fusion between two different gems that the rebel Rose-Quartz had committed the most damnable act in recent memory.

She had **shattered** her Diamond; her own progenitor, the very being that was so benevolent to have given her life and a purpose in the greater cosmos.

_All for the fledgling organics of the Earth which serve no purpose or reason, what right did she have to go against-_

Yellow Diamond took a deep breath to calm herself and not let her wrath make itself known. After pinching the bridge of her nose she felt the pins-and-needles feeling of her power subside and let herself focus on the reason that the three matriarchs had convened in the first place, what to do with the rebels now.

Yellow gave her opinion of an all-out blitzkrieg with herself leading the assault as the tip of the spear, while Blue remained largely in mourning and could not give a proper suggestion without having to continuously pause to ride out an emotional sob.

White Diamond soaked up their words with a blank face and pursed lips, only to nod once all options were suggested. Soon she finally stood from her head of the table and beckoned the two distraught Diamonds to come closer. 

Blue was naive to accept this innocent act while Yellow would curse herself for the next millennia for not seeing through White’s facade of understanding, for the moment they were within arms reach White Diamond grabbed both of them by the locks of their hair and violently slammed them face first into the marble conference table.

Blue was so stupefied by the action that she remained still under White’s arm, eyes wide in disbelief, while Yellow thrashed and cursed under her vice-like grip. White Diamond looked down with a sneer at the two squirming under her, like pressing ones finger on an insect to keep it from scuttling away, before beginning,

“Why do you disappoint me? Cycle after cycle, you waste my time...”

Her serrated words caused both struggling Diamonds to cease their movements and attempt to look up from their dominated positions out of the corners of their eyes.

“I have been lenient long enough. I backed off to let you settle this thinking you were all competent and what do we have to show?”

In the stretch of silence that followed White ‘tsked’ before continuing,

“I’ll tell you; _mountains_ of wasted resources, shattered gems on **both** sides, and a broadcast to everyone that we are a galactic embarrassment!” White’s tone rose until finally reaching a crescendo at the last point. Before Yellow could give an excuse to save their damaged pride White finally released them, causing herself and Blue to shoot up and take a step away from the livid White Diamond.

As quickly as her temper flared, it would immediately dissipate as the senior Diamond pressed her taloned fingertips together as she continued to talk,

“No matter, seeing as I will just have to end this myself. Let’s all pretend that we are capable leaders for just _one_ cycle. Come along now!” The luminous elder decreed as Yellow and Blue followed in tow with eyes cast downward in silent shame. 

* * *

_White Diamonds’ plan was an indiscriminate bombardment of the offending planet’s surface upon the Crystal Gems when they began the next confrontation with Homeworld Gems, a blast of biblical proportions courtesy of the combined might of the remaining Diamonds._

_Friend and foe alike were subject to the attack that was heralded by a blinding light that would turn the night into day, with unfathomable amounts of landmass and organic life getting decimated in the crossfire._

_Roaming eyes were sent to scour the scorched blast zone, and when they returned to the looming ship of White Diamond overlooking the damage, all reports came back the same:_

_No signs of organic life in the targeted area, all traces of gem presence annihilated._

_Pictures of the shattered remains were taken as proof, but were immediately ordered to be deleted._

_The rebellion has been crushed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter twelve
> 
> I had mentioned that White Diamond is going to be very touchy in this fanfic back in my notes in chapter two. I haven't forgotten
> 
> This chapter ends from Homeworlds' point of view. The next chapter will be from the rebels, alongside a twist I've been cultivating since beginning this story
> 
> The Picture is White being very rough


	13. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where the charade is ruined

Weapons clashed against one another in a cacophony of noise that the Crystal Gems were all too familiar with. This battle was supposed to be no different than the dozens of others, just another Homeworld incursion aimed at one of the newer established strongholds. 

This fight, which would come to be known as the Battle for the Ziggurat, was an especially dynamic event that made itself a hallmark in history for multiple reasons. The rebels’ numbers were at their highest, humans were fighting alongside gems with admirable power and strategy, and Homeworld was shown to have not been truly invincible.

_It was also known as the target area of the blast_

* * *

With a slash of her saber, Rose poofed an Amethyst warrior and quickly went to bubble her vulnerable gem from the battle when a shift in the atmosphere drew her attention. The soldiers of the battlefield had also craned their necks to see the source of the disturbance; three shining lights gleaming in the night sky paired with a subtle drop in the temperature around them. Rose scanned her foes to see what it was they were plotting but immediately became worried when she saw that they were just as confused as she was.

Upon a second gaze at the lights, which had begun to glow brighter with each passing second, Rose could see that each of their gleams individually shone with an unmistakable hue of blue, yellow, and _white_.

This was undoubtedly an intervention by the Diamonds and was acknowledged by the ground forces with a clear divide of dread from the rebels and patriotic cheering from Homeworld forces. All manner of celebration was immediately squashed when the twinkling lights suddenly exploded in size and wrapped the sky in a blinding light.

Suspecting the worst, Rose called her allies to herself, and thanked every star and god the humans have taught her that her closest companions were able to reach her in time. She held out her shield overhead in anticipation as she was embraced by Pearl, Garnet, Bismuth, Biggs, and Larimar in a tight group hug. The bright light was oppressive now, with everyone's vision being replaced with the sheer brightness save for their casted shadows as everyone began to panic and run about blindly.

Rose had known that her shield would not be enough to survive an attack from a Diamond, much less one combined with the force of all three. She forced all of her energy her gem could output to make her shield wider, more thick, and with multiple layers stacking on top of each other.

Whatever this light would bring was getting closer, and the panic in the voices around her made Rose lose her focus, and for a split second her defenses wavered before flickering back into position. This much energy being exerted was putting massive stress on the light form of Rose-Quartz, and she knew that another hiccup like that would spell the end for the few she was trying to protect in the short time she had.

With a deep breath Rose’s form shifted and slowly morphed back into the form that she hadn’t manifested in millennia,

Her original Diamond form

With her energy now being able to focus on the shield instead of maintaining a shape-shifted form, the pink aegis doubled in size and bent itself into a bubble seconds before the blast made contact with the planet.

For a moment the group held onto each other as their bodies were rocked by the sheer power of the attack; a deafening roar of annihilation that scorched the air around them as it destroyed everything under it. They remained together for what had seemed like an eternity before one was brave enough to peek their eye open, only for the bubble encapsulating them to pop. The six remaining gems spread from each other before finally registering the horrific scene of the area in front of them.

The green hills and forests that were once around them were obliterated, with nothing else remaining but scorched black earth and soot from the cloud of dust now settling over. The unbearable loudness from the earlier explosion would have been preferable over the lack of noise that followed.

The worst part would have had to be the ground surrounding the group which consisted of patterns of multi-colored glass that had warped and blended into the environment. The soldiers that did not survive were so _utterly_ destroyed that their gems had melted and bonded with whatever matter was close enough, forming a bastardization of abstract art. To the passing human such a phenomenon would have been a beautiful sight, but for the gems it was a cruel desecration of their fallen, with the result being desolating enough to even split Garnet back into Sapphire and Ruby as they consoled each other through their own anguish.

Bismuth, who managed to finally rip her gaze from the hellish landscape, turned to look at Rose with intentions to ask about what to do but was immediately halted. With a growing sense of fury she spoke her words through gritted teeth,

“What...the hell are **you** doing here?”

In the figure's lack of a response all Bismuth could do is shake her head before she began to chuckle, a dull laugh without a hint of humor, with her tears following soon after. The survivors all turned to see the source of her hysterics and were shell shocked the second time that day to see who it was standing in the place where their leader, Rose-Quartz, had been.

  
  


On her knees with her overclocked light form sizzling the earth under her was none other than Pink Diamond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter thirteen
> 
> I pray I was able to get the smoke down right. I didn't realize how finicky it could be to draw
> 
> The picture is an exhausted Pink Diamond


	14. Pyrrhic Victory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where the survivors look to the future

“What is it I am looking at here?” Queried Larimar after a stretch of silence fell between the group. She looked to her remaining friends through her squinted eyes for an answer before settling her gaze on Pearl.

The taller gems that surrounded her had various levels of disbelief on their faces that ranged from confused to downright furious, but Pearl’s reaction to Pink Diamonds’ presence was a level of mortification that the ice gem had never seen before. The pale gem had both hands clasped around her mouth as she shook her head before collapsing to her knees in a display of submission that did not fit the terrifying legend Larimar had come to know.

“Did...it hold? If you can hear me...sound off…” slurred Pink Diamond as her head swiveled side-to-side in a bleak attempt to remain straight. Her clouded eyes made it look as though she wasn’t even cognisant of the situation, yet here she was acting like she was their leader which brought Biggs Jasper to speak her mind.

“Where’s Rose? What did you do with her you-” the rust colored quartz was making a move toward the seemingly resurrected monarch before stopping in her tracks at Pink’s next words.

“What are you talking about Biggs? I’m...right here?” explained Pink with the faintest hint of confusion. Her words brought gasps from all in front of her, which caused her to slowly look down at herself to make her point before seeing the poofy Diamond form in place of the dressed Rose-Quartz .

" _Ah.._."

_The charade is over. The Crystal Gems know your truth. Don’t run from them._

  
  


With a heavy sigh Pink slumps backwards from her kneeling position to a seated one as she runs a hand through her disheveled hair before lightly grabbing a handful of her locks with her fist. 

The lack of an explanation was testing the already stressed Bismuth, and with raw emotion in her voice she all but pleaded,

“Talk damn it! What is going on here?! Where is Rose-Quartz?! H-How are you still alive?” Bismuth listed the questions on everyone’s minds before receiving her answer from a very tired looking Pink Diamond.

“Right then, I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you _everything_.”

* * *

And so the littlest Diamond told her story of neglect and how underestimated she felt. She would go on to confess that she only wanted a colony because she believed it was her birthright, and only recently saw the flaws that ran deep within the empire as she heard the opinions of plebeian gems during her time as Rose.

She would continue with how she saw firsthand the beauty that is snuffed by colonization, and the callous feelings that her senior authority held for the innocent life caught in their territorial expansion.

It was this injustice that led her to start her protests and to be a symbol of defiance under the guise of a common Rose-Quartz soldier

However, Pink explained that she never thought this revolt would explode into war, and how she never intended for gems to get shattered over a cause that she naively thought would be swept under the rug by the Diamonds. 

She admitted that she was in over her head since the beginning

* * *

“Now it’s over.” shrugged Pink when she finally finished her soliloquy. 

“The Diamonds might think Rose and every Crystal Gem was destroyed with whatever that attack was. We can play off that, and lay low with the humans that didn’t get caught up in the first place. It's the least we can-”

“No,” Interrupted Biggs to the surprise of the group, “You aren’t in any place to give me orders. I’d listen to Rose-Quartz, but as far as I’m concerned she’s gone with the rest of _them_.” She raised her arms to gesture at the fields of broken and melded gem shards.

“You might have saved me, but don’t think that means I owe you now.” Added Bismuth as she stepped forward to join Biggs as she stood across from Pink. Soon after the duo was joined by a fidgeting Larimar before she added her input,

“I do not want to hear those screams ever again. I will go away so that I can not hear you bring any more.” She said before being brought into a side hug by Bismuth, leaving them to face Pearl, Sapphire, Ruby and Pink. 

The Diamond looks back to the remaining three with a forlorn look and asks them, “What will you three do now?” 

Pearl was first to speak up in response,

“You’ve shown me that there is so much more than playing the role of your gem. If I wasn’t brought along with you I’d most likely be standing outside some Pyrope’s room mindlessly following orders. This lifestyle is the only one I want to live, and I never want to look back!” She finished with closed fists and a resolute smile.

The heartfelt words weighed heavy on Pink’s shoulders, but she powered through her emotions and looked down to Ruby and Sapphire to patiently hear what they have to say.

Ruby was flummoxed as to what to say, as it was made known with a pout on her face. She did feel like an idiot for following the gem that held a crusade against herself, but couldn’t help but feel the faintest sense of respect for Pink for having spilled her life story out to the gems that could now shatter her in her weakest moment. 

Sapphire anticipated that Ruby would not speak up due to the mental tug-of-war in her head, and so as the second half of the Garnet fusion she voiced her thoughts on her partner's behalf,

  
  


“I don’t appreciate having this secret held over our heads the entire time.” her words causing Pink to lower her head in shame, “but I don’t see you as being a liar.”

“When you found us as Garnet you didn’t turn us in or attack us on sight, you welcomed us and embraced us as our own individual. You also encouraged us that each decision we made was our own and to not let anyone convince us that we were wrong in doing so.”

“And when we foresaw that light from the sky coming down we subconsciously peered into the future to see if it was really the end, but in every path we saw you putting yourself on the line to protect us in every circumstance, with a few outcomes even resulting in your shattering.”

This revelation began to put the group somewhat at ease, even the opposing three who had just voiced their contempt for Pink a moment prior.

“As bleak of a conclusion this war has been, you’ve truly had the best intentions for the gems you fought for. You may have kept your truth hidden but you were honest to us with everything else, even when nothing has gone your way.”

Sapphire then took a few steps towards Pink Diamond and placed her hand on her knee before parting her bangs to reveal her single blue eye,

“As long as you are one-hundred percent honest from now on, I’d be able to forgive this. I know that Ruby feels the same way.” She said with a knowing glance over her shoulder toward the short soldier, who simply growled and nodded her head in agreement.

Pink held back a sob as she agreed to Sapphire’s conditions, and watched on with a watery smile as both she and Ruby embraced one another to form back into Garnet. The former revolutionist did not feel as though she deserved this second chance at forgiveness, but if Pearl and Garnet were able to look past her actions then she would do everything in her power to make it up for them. 

The two groups had decided to go their separate ways; with Pink Diamond, Pearl and Garnet going around and helping the Earth recover from the battles that have been held over the course of millennia and Bismuth, Biggs and Larimar going to discover more about the planet they had sacrificed so much for.

Before departing for good Pink called out to the trio,

“Will we ever see you again?”

The gems stood still for a moment and looked to one another for an answer before Bismuth finally spoke,

“Heh, it’s not like we have anywhere else to go! Maybe sometime, far from now.” the large purple gem waved off before finally leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter fourteen
> 
> This was the longest chapter I've typed so far, and the most dialogue heavy.
> 
> With enough time to plan I anticipate wrapping up the past into the next two chapters before following up into the present, into the episode "Gem Glow" with this alternate canon
> 
> The picture is Pink promising to Sapphire


	15. Remnant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where monsters rise as life attempts to recover

When there was evidence of gem shards remaining at the battlefield where the Diamonds subjected their almighty attack, the order was pushed out to make landfall one last time on the cursed planet to retrieve them.

A handful of roaming eyes flanking a gem warship would soon touch down on the decrepit warzone and unload their passengers; Ruby squads and large circular robonoids overseen by limb-enhanced Peridots. 

These lower end gems were given the heart-wrenching task of gathering as many shards and larger hunks of forced gem inclusions as they could for a proper send off back on Homeworld. The Rubies had the fortitude to pick up shattered remains of what was recently their comrades and foe alike, but even they had to force the emotionless robonoids to carry off the melded gem chunks in their stead.

No shorter than a week of collecting had passed when it was deemed that there were enough gem remains to return to Homeworld, but a suggestion was made that the pieces were to be dropped off at the nearest kindergarten, the Beta, to be washed and cleaned of any grime.

_It was the least they can do, and it was a gesture that surely would have been appreciated by the Diamonds had it gone through._

On arrival the shipments of gem remnants were hauled to the darker green chambers of the large kindergarten to be cleaned, with the smaller shards being placed in individual bubbles and the larger molds having their place in cylindrical containers.

The Rubies began to grab their sanitization tools as they were overlooked by a stern-faced Peridot with triangular shaped hair. This olive-green gem had been particularly involved with the affairs of the gems under her, as this gesture that was not often seen by the older Ruby soldiers, but was brushed off as inexperience on behalf of the recently emerged green gem.

The loud clang from a dropped brush garnered the attention of the cleanup crew as one Ruby began to backpedal from a most horrific sight.

A cluster of combined gems began to float upward from the table it rested on as it began to reform, only for it to wildy glitch out and split its light silhouette between three gems clutching their heads in anguish, following with ear-splitting screams. 

The group was stupefied in fear at the abomination that had manifested itself before them. The wailing of this thing continued as it thrashed about before it finally reformed, taking the shape of three torsos lumped together at their backs with what could only be described as a grotesque caricature of a hand for the head.

It let out a low growl as it took in its surroundings before finally taking notice of the Homeworld gems, but before the Rubies and Peridot manager could properly respond it lunged towards them with the wildness only a monster could possess.

As it attacked the unfortunate gems it began to knock over other canisters and pop the bubbled gem parts in its hysteria, and it wasn’t soon after that these other exposed pieces began to levitate and take form themselves.

* * *

“It’s coming out great Pink!” exclaimed a beaming Pearl as she held her hands in front of her to form a rectangle with her thumb and index fingers. 

The colored gem in question responded with a thumbs up from her position on the cliffside as she returned to roughly scrub away the exposed mountain rock with her palm.

When viewed from afar the scene would appear as though someone had carved a statue in tribute to some multi-armed, double faced goddess of yore, but this was simply a monument to the dragon of the Crystal Gems.

**_Obsidian_ **

  
  


The torso and head were finely recreated and extra care was put into the hair of the penta-fusion, but the largest roadbump that presented itself for the new Crystal Gem abode was figuring a way to set the arms.

It was unanimously decided that only two arms would extend outward in a gesture not too different than a shrug while the rest of the arms would curl downward to form a sort of entrance with the palms at ground level.

Back on the ground Pearl was joined by Garnet, as well as a gem that she had not seen in centuries. With a delighted gasp and an unnecessary amount of tears she jumped towards the bulky grey gem to hug her.

“BISMUTH!!! Oh it’s so good to see you again! What have you been up to?!” rattled on Pearl, much to the amusement of the taller gems. Bismuth returned the hug in full before settling Pearl down with a chuckle.

“Oh you know, sightseeing and what have you. Definitely not roughhousing with the humans to see who can swing a sword better, heh…” Bismuth answered with her hand clasping the nape of her neck before letting out a tired sigh.

“I’m sorry but I didn’t come to catch up with my old buddies this time, I’ve got a serious issue that needs to be addressed, as Crystal Gems.” Grimly stated by the blacksmith. 

At this Pearl called down Pink from her project, and once the four gem warriors were together in a group they gave Bismuth their full attention to receive her report.

“I’ve been getting bad vibes ever since we stopped getting flybys from Homeworld ships, but just the other day we saw a warship docked next to one of the old Kindergartens.” Bismuth explained, eliciting worry from the three gems receiving her news. But before any questions could be asked she continued on with her chronicle,

“But that’s not the worst part, the real issue is how the ship looked. It was turned on its side and looked as though it had been thrown through an asteroid field. Then we saw what had really done it.”

And with a crude flash of her gem, bismuth recreated the scene from her memory on display, showing the simple outline of the hand-shaped ship with something crawling from the hull. As the projection zoomed in the shape was given more definition, revealing a monstrous figure of collapsed limbs and torsos branching out from a traumatic memory of their past.

_A fusion from the melded remains of their fallen_

When the projection was finished Pink, Garnet and Pearl could do nothing but put their hands to their mouths at this revelation; dread written across all of their faces at the tragic news given in their momentary time of piece. The former monarch was quick to recover, and with a rough wipe of her eyes she stood tall and confidently proclaimed,

“Those gems don’t deserve to suffer anymore for what I’ve done. I was so stupid to leave them at that battlefield, I have to...no I _need_ to find them and put them to rest.” Suddenly a light red hand placed itself at the small of Pink Diamonds back.

“And we’ll help you, no matter how long it takes.” The fusion added with a confident smirk.

With a new challenge presented in the midst of recovery, the Crystal Gems were reactivated to prevent these mutant fusions from creating any more destruction, and to save them from their tormented fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter fifteen
> 
> It seems the Crystal Gems can never catch a break
> 
> The picture is Bismuth relaying her memory to the shock of her allies


	16. Written in the stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where a Diamond meets a Universe

The hunt for all the corrupted gems was an arduous task, with many of the beasts ranging in size from a truck to that of a small house. This quest would have caused a substantially larger ruckus among humanity had it not been for the convenience of Garnet’s clairvoyance, as it was thanks to her perceiving news headlines of the future that the Crystal Gems could intercept the bestial gems before they could cause substantial damage.

Centuries would come to pass, and the bubble count in the heart of the Obsidian Temple would slowly increase with it. Today was no different; the warp pad housed at the entrance to the sanctuary burst into light as it revealed the occupants of the temple coming home from another job well done. 

Pink stepped from the pad and walked to the entrance of the temple with a circular corrupted gem that was complemented with blotches of orange and purple encapsulated in a hot pink bubble.

_One of their own, Crazy Lace Agate. She was as stubborn as they came back during the war, and this trait remained even post-corruption._

_Putting her down was no easy task._

The mission took an emotional toll on the Crystal Gems, which also included a new member to their ranks in the form of a pint-sized Amethyst. The extended amount of time in the ground was to blame for her stature, but she was still welcomed with open arms the day she was discovered in the Beta Kindergarten. 

The purple gem watched as Pink sent the bubble away, and laughed as the taller diamond ruffled her hair in an affectionate matter to distract from the memory of the mission.

Their little interaction was interrupted by a commotion coming from Beach City, the sleepy town established at the furthest boundaries of the temple. The scrappy Amethyst confused the noise as another fight, but was placated by Pink Diamond as she explained that the noise was simply the music that occasionally played at the beach, receiving a nodding head from the still befuddled Amethyst. 

“C’mon, I’ll show you!” offered Pink, which rewarded her a squeal from the ever-excitable quartz. With a farewell to Garnet and Pearl the duo made their way over the fence that separated the territory of their temple only to be met with a peculiar sight.

An outdoor stage was set up, with a wild-haired man playing his electric guitar to the miniscule crowd that had gathered to watch him. The city tourists were not too interested in the lyrics of the singer as they were in his merchandise, but for some reason his words caused a resonation within Pink Diamond.

His space-related similes and proclamations of chasing his dream had Pink fiercely captivated, and it was only at the end of his song that she managed to snap from her stupor as the man, introducing himself as “Mr. Universe” announced that he was giving away shirts and CDs off to the side.

As she made a move to talk to the singer, she looked down at herself and compared her look to that of the civilians.

_I can’t talk looking like this, gotta blend in…_

In a shimmer of light the Diamond would forgo her poofy uniform in favor of high waisted jeans and a loose off-the-shoulder shirt that she observed from some of the other human females. She still stood high above everyone at the beach, but was dressed like everyone else and would just be judged as being a very tall woman.

When the newly disguised Pink and Amethyst finally approached the table that Mr. Universe was posted at, he was taken back at the appearance of the two ladies, especially the sheer height difference of Pink Diamond and Amethyst. Instead of gawking at the two for a moment longer, he quickly gave them a warm greeting and thanked them for attending his show as he handed them cases of his CDs.

“Space Train to the Cosmos…” the two gems read aloud at the same time.

“Yeah, one way ticket and I’m ready to ri-ide!” he responded with a note in his voice, much to the amusement of Pink and Amethyst. The latter was bent over in a fit of laughs as Pink scanned the cover of his album.

“Would you ever come back?” Pink inquired as she lowered her arm that held the plastic case.

“...Back?” Mr. Universe asked, not expecting a question to come from his off-the-cuff response

“Back to Earth?” the Pink woman clarified as she pulled a case from the mouth of Amethyst and placed it back on his table. With a small dismissive snort he closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair,

“I’d never come back” he proclaimed with his arms folded back behind his head.

“I don’t blame you. I left my home to chase my dream too, a long time ago…” Pink explained with a downcast look. It tugged the young man’s heartstrings to see her mood sour so quickly, and without thought he offered,

“You want that? You can have it, and your buddy can have one too!” He handed them both copies of his music. They accepted his offer with smiles as they saw him reach down towards a box on the side,

“And it comes with a t-shirt as we-... uh...let me see if I have anything larger in the van.” The singer explained as he took in the size of the larger Pink. A quick run-in with his manager, a scowling man named Marty, kept him from giving his presents to the two fans in a timely manner, and the next thing he knew they were gone.

He looked around to see if they had gone far, and had managed to see the two odd women clear a fence that stood at the far corner of the beach. With his youthful energy Mr. Universe ran to the iron fence and made his way past, ignoring the “keep out” sign that was placed on it in his efforts to keep his promise.

As he found himself at the entrance to the temple, Mr. Universe looked in awe as he took in the seemingly ancient architecture of the ruins before his line of sight finally fell to two familiar figures, now joined by two more that he had not seen before. With a clearing of his throat he called out,

“Hey! I uh, finally found those shirts for you…” he offered the larger shirt with extended hands as the two new companions of Pink eyed him warily

_“Pink, do you know what this human is talking about?”_ whispered a cautious Pearl, but had her answer come from Amethyst.

“We’ve seen him before! He was getting us free stuff before he got yelled at by some sharp-toothed guy!” She explained as she hooked her cheeks to widen her mouth, earning a disgusted sneer from the lithe Pearl.

“Yes Pearl I know who this human is.” Pink responded to the pale gem before turning to the man, “How awfully kind of you Mr. Universe. I hope the fence wasn’t too much of a hassle.”

The former rebel leader took the shirt from him and began to put it on, leaving the poor man to be interrogated by Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl. After a quick introduction and explanation of why he was there the Crystal Gems seemed to be at ease of the human’s presence and deemed him as a non-threat.

The sun had set at this point, and before their conversation could go on the singer reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

“Aw jeez, Marty’s probably having an aneurysm by now. I gotta get going.” He bid farewell to the group as they all gave various levels of enthusiasm, with Pink and Amethyst happily waving him off while Garnet simply nodded, leaving Pearl to look on unimpressed. 

Before he could fully leave Mr. Universe turned heel and pointed finger guns,

“I hope the stars align for us to meet again!” He said with an air of confidence that suddenly came from out of nowhere.

“I’m sure they will, Mr. Universe.” Pink giggled in response to the young man’s antics.

“You can just call me Greg. Greg Universe.” He said with a genuine smile before finally departing.

The Crystal Gems began to head back into the temple as the talked about the first human to visit the temple in the years it has been established, as well as the black shirt that had been so chivalrously delivered as promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter sixteen
> 
> Greg had managed to make a better first impression to the Crystal Gems
> 
> The picture is Pink and Amethyst meeting Mr. Universe


	17. Showing her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> where Greg is inspired after an argument with Pearl

On the eve of another Beach city day, we see Greg Universe packing away the various instruments set up for his music video with the Crystal Gems. 

After his initial meeting with the alien women the aspiring musician had a falling out with his manager Marty, and after finally putting his foot down by standing up to the sleazy man and letting him know how he really felt, he decided to remain in the cozy beachside town.

He would take up part time jobs with the food establishments on the boardwalk for means of payment and had even established good relationships with their owners, whose tolerance for him gradually increased to fond friendships.

When he wasn’t working he would spend time with the Gems in their abode, playing songs and catching them up to date with the trends of society. They humored him at first, but soon came to enjoy his presence whenever they weren’t out hunting down the corrupted forms of their former comrades.

All except Pearl, who had noticed the looks that were shared between her Diamond and the human, and had felt that the young man was trying to distract her from their objective.

This evolved into a sort of rivalry between the two, mostly consisting of snide looks whenever one would earn the attention of Pink and attempts to one-up each other with whatever was going on at the moment.

Tonight was no different.

Under the suggestion of Greg, he set up a camera and instruments to record a music video showcasing the singing voice of Pink Diamond, as well as Garnet and Amethyst’s aptitude for human instruments.

All had gone well, save for Pearl deciding to fuse with the Diamond mid-song to disrupt the distance being closed by her and Greg in a petty manner. Her actions had the opposite reaction she was looking for, as once unfused the starstruck singer finished the recording and rounded on them.

“I can’t believe I got that on video what on Earth was that?!” he exclaimed, almost losing his grip on his guitar as he rushed to them.

With an amused giggle Pink began, “ _That_ was Rainbow Quartz. Pearl here thought a surprise appearance by her would add some...pizzazz as you call it.” she said as she placed a hand on the shoulder of the smug gem in question.

Greg stood with an open mouth as she explained, completely ignorant of the subversive intentions of the pale gem. Before the rebellion leader could go more in depth Garnet interrupted with news of old gem ruins acting up nearby, and beckoned her towards the warp pad.

“Duty calls. I’m sorry we couldn’t stay around long. Are you doing anything later?” She asks with a small smile gracing her face.

“You know I’m not.” Greg reassures with finger guns pointed in her direction, earning a delighted laugh from Pink Diamond. She gives her goodbye in the form of a quick peck on his lips and departs with the permafusion, leaving him with Pearl and Amethyst.

The man almost swoons as he clears the space of the temple grounds, but before he can pick up a mic cable from the floor Pearl is quick to take it instead. He reaches out to receive the cable in her possession, but in the same movement she turns away from him,

“You’re just a phase, you know that right?” She asks as she inspects the primitive bundle of rubber and wire.

_Here we go…_

“No I don’t, care to explain?” Greg retorts with a challenging smirk.

“You think you’re the first human Pink has acted like this around? You’re a novelty at best… and a nuisance at worst.” The gem proclaims, her gaze not leaving the wires in her hands. 

He could feel that she was trying to start another argument, and with the absence of the two more mature gems Greg felt like he could finally let her know how he felt.

“I’m a nuisance to _you_ because you’re feeling left out of all the stuff we do. Y’know if you took your spear out of your ass for once you might not think that way.” Greg responds with a little bit of edge to his tone. 

Every attempt to make peace with Pearl would get shut down without a chance to be acknowledged, and that frustration was starting to catch up to him.

Unfazed by his language, Pearl finally tears her gaze from his possession and begins to slowly twirl around him,

“You might be affectionate now, but I know you could never have a relationship as strong as the one we have, considering that you’re just a fleeting human.” She punctuates with a flick to his nose.

  
  


“And what’s that supposed mean?” Greg inquires as he rubs his assaulted sniffer.

“I’m talking about fusion. Rainbow Quartz is proof of the trust and love that Pink and I share with each other, and the same proof can be said with Garnet. Fusion is the ultimate connection between gems that can be had, and since you _aren’t_ a gem and _can’t_ fuse…” Pearl counts off on her fingers before wrapping the mic cable around Greg Universes’ neck and pulls him closer to her,

**“You can never have what we have.”**

Her words cut deep, and were laced with enough truth that he couldn’t think of a comeback in time to save him from the arrogant face of Pearl as she relinquished the cable on his neck before turning to leave.

_‘She might be right...but I’ll be damned if I’ll let her get the last word!’_

“Well, has a gem ever tried to fuse with a human?” He asks before the distance can be made too far between himself and Pearl.

“No I...don’t think so…” This time it was Pearls turn to sputter for a response, clearing not accounting for such a possibility.

“Then I’ll do it! I’ll be the first human to fuse with a gem!” Greg confidently proclaims with a dramatic drop of his mic, earning him a cheer from the previously silent Amethyst and a scoff from Pearl.

He held his bravado for a moment longer before bending down to pick up his equipment

"Ugh, what am I doing, this thing is expensive!”

* * *

After a heart-to-gem conversation with Garnet about his predicament once he was caught trying to dance like Pearl, Greg eagerly set a small dance floor outside the Temple with a plan in mind.

As he set a record to be played for the occasion her heard footsteps in the sand approach his project in the form of Pink Diamond, smiling as she took in the set up on the beach. As she walked up behind Greg she began to ask,

“What’s all this? Setting up for another video Mr. Universe?”

Instead of answering, the young man allows the record to play before turning to extend his hand towards her. Seeing the invitation Pink smiles fondly down at him as she adjusts her height to accommodate the dance he offers her, and once their hands are intertwined she follows his footsteps as they began to spin around in an close waltz with each other.

As the borders of the dance floor exploded into light, Greg took initiative of Pink Diamond’s surprise by guiding their dance towards makeshift steps consisting of various instrument cases and a stereo.

At the songs’ peak Greg had himself standing eye level with the former Gem monarch, and as they stared into one another's eyes Greg dipped Pink by supporting her back with his arms and drew her into a kiss.

The gem was enchanted by the actions of this man, and it wasn’t soon after that she closed her eyes and returned the kiss, both parties being illuminated by the soft glow emanating from her naval gem.

They remained this way for a few moments before Greg withdrew, eyes scanning the area before noticing that nothing gem related had happened.

Pink Diamond’s eyes remained closed a while longer before she finally opened them, utterly starstruck and filled with the love she had for this human and this unforgettable moment.

His face was not as happy as hers however, and with a voice hardly above a whisper he tells her,

“We...didn’t fuse…”

Pink’s face twisted in confusion before allowing herself to straighten up.

“What? What are you talking about?” she asks, perplexed at the comment that she didn’t think Greg would make after such a moment. Knowing he was busted, Greg lowers his gaze to the ground in frustration as he comes clean.

“Pearl was going off about how fusion is the “ultimate connection between gems that can be had” and how we can’t have a bond as strong as the rest of the gems because I’m a human and I can’t fuse. I just wanted to prove her wrong…” he admits as tears began to prick the corners of his eyes.

A curled finger cups his chin and gently lifts his gaze upwards to meet Pink Diamond’s own, whose expression shifts to that of understanding.

“That was a little rude of Pearl to say, she of all gems should know that fusion isn’t the end all be all way to show love and trust.” She tells him as she cups the side of his cheek with her hand.

"If I can be honest with you, this dance you’ve shared with me has never made me feel this way; so light and vulnerable. Like we were the only two beings in the universe.”

The song for their dance had long since ended, leaving the record player to project nothing but static. In this dull ambiance, the two lovers still managed to make a slow dance of their own as they held their conversation.

“Pearl can think whatever she wants, but I know this feeling I have for you surpasses anything I’ve felt for anyone, and I don’t need something like fusion to know I love you, _Greg Universe_.”

With a quick wipe of his eyes Greg returns the sentiment,

"I love you, _Pink Diamond_." 

Her response lifted a weight off Greg’s chest, and with this newfound satisfaction he returned a smile towards Pink as the two continued to slow dance with the setting sun.

He had not got what he was aiming for but this was something far better than he could have hoped, and for the moment Greg simply danced with Pink on the beach as they shared each other's presence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter seventeen
> 
> I've had this scenario of Pink dancing with Greg a long time now, and it feels good to finally flesh it out
> 
> I hope Greg and Pearl are not too out of character in their argument, I just wanted to try something based on their dynamics when they first met each other
> 
> Picture is Pink being serenaded


	18. Glowing Gem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where we are brought to the future

It is a comfortable morning in the sleepy town of Beach City. The crashing of the ocean’s waves paired with a clear blue sky makes for a peaceful setting,

that is until a piercing scream cuts through the morning air.

“This can’t be happening! This has to be a dream!”

The source of this disturbance takes the form of a small child in jeans and sandals. The red shirt with a simple yellow star on the front heralds the appearance of none other than Steven Universe, Beach City’s resident goofball.

His normally cheerful demeanor has forgone into a state of near hysterics; his daily visit to his favorite pastry shop, the Big Donut, for his favorite snack turns up bad news.

His treasured treat, the beloved cookie cat ice cream sandwich, had discontinued production. Without this essential part of the day poor Steven glomps onto the leg of an unamused employee, whose uniform name tag reads “Lars”

“Hey I’m stockin’ here!” the older teen chastises as he attempts to do his job, shrugging the child off his leg and leaving him to grovel. Seeing his woe, a feminine voice reaches out to him from over a nearby counter.

“I’m sorry Steven, I guess they stopped making them…” sympathises Sadie Miller, the other employee of the Big Donut. After her comment Lars is quick to follow up,

“Well, if you miss your wimpy ice cream so much, you could just buy their factories by selling your _magic_ belly button!” Lars taunts with puckered lips before snickering to himself.

“That’s not how it works Lars! I need this to live, I think…” Steven retorts as he lifts his shirt to inspect his magic belly button in question, a diamond shaped gem whose point nearly reaches the bottom of his sternum.

After composing himself Steven walks up to the cookie cat freezer and presses his forehead against the glass before whispering to the derelict appliance,

_“You were too good for this world.”_ He sighs as he places a kiss against the window.

Thoroughly weirded out by his antics, Sadie and Lars shared a disturbed glance at one another before Lars clears his throat to get Steven’s attention,

“Just take the damned thing with you. PDA is gross dude, no one wants to see that!”

Steven nodded his head in gratitude before unplugging the freezer and walked with it out the door, humming the frozen treat’s theme song in a solemn manner.

* * *

Steven takes the back roads that lead to his simple wooden beach house snuggled in the palms of the looming Crystal Temple. As he enters the household he is ignorant of the slashing and smashing of the Gem’s weapons as they thoroughly exterminate an infestation of insectoid infected gems.

When he approaches the counter that he will place the freezer on he is met face-to-jaw with one of the scuttling cretins, to which Steven simply sighs, “Not now, it’s been a rough day…” as he shoves the hissing pest off to the side.

_Hold on a tick…_

As reality sets in Steven snaps his head towards the beast as it lunges towards him with intent to kill, only to be caught and yanked away by Amethyst.

“Yo.” she casually greets him like she didn’t just save him from having his face seared off.

No later than he arrived the rest of gem warriors cleaned the infestation, leaving a awestruck Steven among the wreckage of the house.

“Awesome! What were those things?” The young boy asked his guardians, to which Pearl was the first to answer,

“These were centipeetles Steven, sorry for getting you involved but they just couldn’t have picked a better time to find a way inside the Temple. How has your day been?” She asks him as she scans the house for any remaining creatures in question.

“It’s been terrible Pearl! The government has stopped making cookie cats!” Steven cried out as he dramatically gestured to the product’s freezer sitting on the kitchen counter.

The trio of gems shared knowing glances with each other before Garnet steps forward with her arms crossed.

“I don’t see why you need a freezer for your treats, considering you already have one full of them.” She says in her classic nonchalant manner. It takes a moment for the hamster wheel in Steven’s mind to connect the dots of her statement, and in a mad dash he opens the topmost compartment of his refrigerator to a beautiful sight.

His freezer was packed to the brim with none other than,

“COOKIE CATS?! It can’t be!” Steven remarks, holding the wrapper of his beloved snack in trembling hands.

"We heard they were getting axed, so we went out and stole a bunch!" proclaims a proud Amethyst. With a huff Pearl steps in front of her mischievous ally.

"We went back and **paid** for them." the graceful pale gem corrects.

"It was my ide-"

Before Garnet can finish her part Steven takes a nibble of the corner shaped to look like a cat ear, shaking in pleasure before the gem in his naval begins to illuminate the room they are occupying.

In a brillant burst of light his gem projects a beautiful translucent shield, adorned with a thorny vine spiral and a gem with an unfamiliar facet pattern at the center.

“Steven, it’s a shield…” Pearl murmurs under her breath. Her shocked reaction is shared by Garnet, who simply stares at the light show with a concerned hand over her mouth. 

“It’s a what now?” Asks Steven, but in immediately doing so he causes his weapon of birthright to dissipate into a shower of sparkles.

Time seemed to resume once again as Steven ravenously devoured his supply of ice cream bars to recreate the action of summoning the shield. In doing so the recovering trio held a quiet huddle amongst themselves.

“He’s gonna start asking questions, what do we do Garnet?” inquires a nervous Pearl as she fumbles with her hands.

The fusion was quiet for a moment, staring down at the ground intently as she scoured potential timelines before finally speaking,

“We will explain the past one step at a time. We can’t afford to overwhelm him so soon.” 

The group consisting of Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl all look back towards Steven, now grumbling over a pile of ice cream bar wrappers.

_One step at a time..._

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter eighteen 
> 
> Timeskip to events of episode one of season one
> 
> Ignorant of Pink's past, discovering Steven's hereditary powers might not be hunky dory as time goes on
> 
> Picture is Steven looking at his magic belly button


	19. Weapons of yore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Steven gets a glimpse of Gem technology

The boardwalk was particularly quiet this afternoon, and this situation was taken advantage of by our duo of Steven Universe and Amethyst. With an absence of a crowd and Gem-related activities to do they had decided to saunter on over to their favorite fast food restaurant on the boardwalk, Beach Citywalk Fries.

After goading the owner, a stout blond man known around as Mr. Fryman, into giving them charred “bits” of grease-covered french fries to consume the pair of Crystal Gems began to make the trek back towards their house. As they reach the path where the boardwalk transitions to the beach’s sand Steven closes his eyes with content as he tosses a handful of bits into his maw.

“The sunset is my favourite part of the day, where the sun goes down and the second sun gets bigger in the sky…”

Such a goofy comment wrings a laugh from Amethyst as she repeats his words through her chuckles only to gasp sharply at what exactly Steven was describing.

A second ball of light looming over the sky, save for ridges jutting alongside the thing’s form.

“What is _that_ doing here?” Amethyst asks herself before quickly grabbing Steven and rushing back to the Obsidian Temple, leaving the child to lament over the fry bits he dropped in the sudden rush of motion.

* * *

After a quick chiding from Pearl of their whereabouts the tardy pair come to understand that the object in the sky is a Homeworld machination known as a Red Eye, where it is feared to be on a crash course towards Beach City judging by the velocity at which it is approaching.

This was Steven’s first time experiencing an event from Homeworld, but he was not ready for the catastrophic result such an encounter would bring. With barely contained worry in his tone he asked his Guardians,

“What are we going to do?” he asked before receiving his answer from Garnet.

“The only thing we have that is powerful enough to destroy that is a light cannon from the rebel war that was taken as a war trophy by your mother.” She said to the group, sparking an idea as to what the plan of action was.

“But we haven’t seen that thing in _ages_! Who knows where Pink decided to stash it!” Exclaimed Pearl, whose hysterics was immediately shut down by the taller fusion.

“It’s the only chance we have. Search the Temple to see if it turns up, check in every room inside!” She ordered the Crystal Gems.

Seeing this as a chance to be of help, Steven interjects his suggestion,

“If something like that belonged to my mom, I bet my dad would know where it is!” He proclaims, earning mixed reactions from the gems.

“...Greg is nice Steven, but I doubt Pink would entrust a person like _him_ with such a powerful weapon…” Pearl says to him with hardly contained irritation. Before Amethyst could fire a quip in support of Pearl Garnet quickly interrupts,

“We’ll take what we can get, move out!” And with the final order the group dispurses to save their town.

* * *

Steven’s quick reunion with his father, Greg Universe, at the carwash he owned and operated could have definitely been better under less life-threatening circumstances. Steven gave his dad a quick hug after startling him awake and being threatened by a waffle iron before asking him the question of the hour.

“We are looking for the light cannon that belonged to mom to blow up that eyeball! Do you know where it is?”

Greg glanced back and forth at his son and the accused eyeball pointed out in the sky before suddenly blinking and held his hands up,

“The gems told me not to get involved with that kind of stuff. They said it could be dangerous, and it could mess with what’s left of my hair!” The older man explained as he brought his hands to the top of his scalp. This wasn’t the news he expected, so Steven started to anxiously list possible places that his dad might know, such as a potential cloud fortress or a clam under the ocean.

The ridiculous list jogged an idea in Greg, and with a quick trip around the street corner the Father-Son duo stood in front of a large storage unit. A quick file through his ring of keys allowed Greg to find the one to the lock securing the door and permitted them access to the trove of junk crammed inside.

Time was of the essence, and as much as Steven would have loved to be able to explore this museum of dad history he set his mind onto finding the light cannon. Frustrated with the lack of gem weaponry and rising temperature due to the cramped environment the hybrid child called out,

“I don’t see it yet dad! How much stuff is in here anyway?” Steven asked as he roughly slid a box away from himself, causing another unbalanced one to teeter and spill its contents before him.

Whatever explanation Greg was saying was lost to time because of the objects that had Steven’s curiosity fully peaked. The items sprawled out consisted of t-shirts of similar design to his own and CD’s of his father’s music, but what had managed to capture his attention was a polaroid picture that had peeked out from the folds of a black shirt.

It was a picture of his mom and dad together, with the former laughing with her hand over her mouth and the latter apparently egging her on with a hotdog in his mouth and a signs of aging becoming apparent.

Steven’s heartstrings were tugged the longer he looked at the photo as he felt tears prick the edges of his eyes before stuffing the picture into his pocket and focusing back on his father’s voice.

“-sorry you couldn’t find what you were looking for Schtu-ball. We’ll just have to improvise; after all, if every porkchop were perfect we wouldn’t have hotdogs!” 

At the sound of his catchphrase a light began to emanate from the furthest section of the storage unit followed by a low whirring sound. Steven pulled the heavy blanket covering the source and was faced with his objective, the large cream-colored cannon that the gems needed to bring down the Red Eye.

_A cannon that was primed and ready to fire_

The barrel had peeled back in likeness to a blooming flower before firing a linear blast that burned a path through the mountain of items in storage and narrowly missed Steven, who could only look on as the beam soared over the rooftops of nearby houses and dissipated into the sky above.

“STEVEN!! Are you okay?!” His father rushed to his side and was met with a shaky thumbs up.

“I think we found it…”

* * *

To say the Crystal Gems were relieved would have been an understatement, after tearing the Temple upside down in search of the Light Cannon they had huddled to formulate a plan B only to be met with the arrival of Greg’s van pulling the gem artillery in tow.

As the Red Eye began to get closer it began to create a large vacuum of wind due to its sheer size, ushering the group to settle the large cannon and aim it towards the opposing force.

The Gems scurried as to remember how to fire the outdated device, and were just as confused when Steven shouted out his father’s magic phrase. Pearl and Garnet could only stare in awe as the weapon peeled back in preparation to fire, reminding them of the battles they had fought for Earth so many lifetimes ago.

A loud chime and a blinding burst of light announced the firing of the Light Cannon, where it managed to hit its mark on the overhanging ocular object and annihilate the device utterly.

Debris from the ruined weapon crashed haphazardly around the beachfront, with the largest parts thankfully falling into the depths of the ocean. With the threat neutralized the sky began to dim down to the purple of twilight as the Crystal Gems began to make a headcount of civilians and scout for any major damage.

Garnet had separated herself from the recovery and found Steven still hyper on the adrenaline from the events of today.

“Man, I didn’t know mom had that kind of stuff lying around! Does she have other stuff like this she’s hiding?” 

Garnet’s mouth set itself into a straight line before she fixed her expression and ruffled the mess of Steven’s poofy hair,

“We’ll make a field trip to find out one of these days. Let's get you ready for bed Steven, I can only imagine the kind of day you had.”

With a quick yawn Steven agreed with the permafusion’s sentiment, so he handed the salvage in his hand to Garnet as he went off to find the rest of his family to bid them goodnight.

As soon as he was out of view Garnet reached her fingers under her visor and massaged two of her three eyelids as Steven’s question bounced around in her conjoined consciousness.

_Does she have other stuff like this she’s hiding?_

An innocent question with far too much baggage behind its answer...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter nineteen
> 
> a simple retelling of one of my favorite episodes from season one
> 
> Garnet feels guilty for keeping the past hidden from Steven until he's older, but he will find out his mother's story in due time
> 
> The picture is Steven holding the photo of his parents


	20. Operation Sea Spire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where an incursion is launched to save a piece of gem history

_“Bring me a post that I’ll love the most...”_

Steven began to sing as he swung his feet from the rock he sat on. He eagerly awaited the arrival of a package he ordered online, and beamed with excitement as he spotted the approaching mailman.

A brief signature authorizing his identity rewarded him with his awaited product, and it was with haste that Steven rushed back into his home to unpack the delivered box.

He was anticipating the Gems being present during his unboxing but was met with an empty living space. After setting his mail on the counter Steven noticed a small post-it nearby and began to read its message,

_Out to fight a bird monster. We'll be back soon! -Pearl_ **_♡_ **

Steven let out a small _‘aaw’_ at the little note, but was still a bit disappointed that he was left out from another mission. With a defeated sigh he grabbed his package and began to fiddle with the tape to introduce his newest tool to the world.

A backpack, ingeniously designed to mimic the iconic cheeseburger!

As Steven hooked his arms through the straps to adjust the bag to his liking, the warp pad was activated and delivered it’s passengers from a pillar of light. The trio that stepped down were not the Crystal Gems he had expected to see, and as they fanned out one of them began to call out,

“Garnet? Pearl? Anyone home?” 

The raspy voice of Bismuth called as she was flanked by her companions Biggs and Larimar, the latter of which was carrying something in her clawed hands.

Upon setting sights on the small boy, Bismuth broke out into a wide smile,

“Hey meatball! Haven’t seen you in a minute!” she said as she approached the excitable Steven to wrap him in a hug.

“Bismuth! Biggs! And Little Larimar!” the child shouts with glee as he begins to hug them all individually. Once finished giving a giggling Larimar her share of love he looks up at the larger two gems,

“The other Gems aren’t here right now, they’re out fighting some bird monster and won’t be back for a while. What brings you all to our humble abode?” Steven asks with the smallest hint of regal flair to his tone.

“You can knock it off squirt, we were just gonna get a little project done and thought it would be an excuse to get everyone back together.” Biggs explained as she poked the sides of Steven’s ribs, eliciting laughter from the ticklish youngster.

“But it looks like they’re busy with other things. Maybe next time…” sighed Bismuth as she patted Biggs’ broad back before Larimar grabbed their attention.

“What if we bring little Steven along instead? We all know how much fun it will be!” She exclaims with optimism as she raises the object in her claws to the air.

“Along for what? Does it have anything to do with this thing?” Steven asks as he accepts the indigo idol from Larimar.

“That's not just some **thing** Steven. In your hands is the moon goddess statue, a relic that single-handedly decided one of the most important battles the Crystal Gems fought. Any damage to it could set off a chain reaction of total destruction and annihilation!” Biggs passionately expressed to Steven, who nervously handed the item back to Larimar. Biggs maintained a serious look a moment longer before bursting into laughter.

“Oh you should’ve seen the look on your face kid! C’mon, I’d never let you handle something like that.” The jokester quartz laughed on as she took the small statue and casually tossed it in the air.

Bismuth shot a stern look at the rust colored gem before turning to Steven to give him a proper explanation,

“What this statue is _supposed_ to do is be at the top of the lunar sea spire to keep the structure from falling into your planet’s ocean. It has been fine without it so far but time hasn't been easy on ol’ blue, and without this baby back in place the whole thing will fall apart.”

“Centuries of hard work...gone Steven! That is why we have to put it back.” explained the blacksmith Gem.

Steven could see that whatever this building was that they were talking about was important to the Gems, and it after taking a step back from the visiting trio he took a sharp breath into his nose and fastened the straps to his cheeseburger backpack.

“Then I’m coming with. I’ll prove I can be as much of a Gem as the rest of y’all! Pearl will have to start bringing me to missions after this!” Steven proclaimed to the three Gems, and was thoroughly encouraged by their cheers.

A quick pack of small necessities in his bag was the only thing stopping their journey, but after making sure snacks and his plushies were accounted for Steven made a dash to the waiting team on the warp pad.

“Oh wait! I gotta do something first…” Steven skidded to a stop before rounding to the counter that still had Pearl’s note taped on.

* * *

The warp pad in the Obsidian Temple illuminated the house around it before settling back into darkness. 

“For the last time Amethyst we don’t need that!” shouted Pearl as the accused purple Gem in question dismissed her reprimands and shoves a large egg into the refrigerator.

“Quiet you two, you’ll wake Ste...ven?” Garnet ends her sentence with noticeable confusion in her voice.

She went upstairs to bid the child a goodnight but was surprised to see his bed was vacant, and also took note of the mess that was made of his room.

Her lips were pressed in thought before her attention was brought back by a squawking Pearl, whose incoherent babbling was ignored as Garnet returned to the living space to read the small band of post-its stuck on top of one another,

_Bismuth, Biggs, and Little Larimar are taking me on a mission!_

_Packed food, bandaids, and swim trunks, we’ll be around water._

_Be back soon! I’ll tell you all about it - Steven_ _☆_

“Ooh..” Garnet growled out as she slammed the tiny cuts of paper back on the table. Her anger caught the attention of Pearl and Amethyst, who had stopped arguing and had their attention on the taller fusion.

“Those three took Steven without us. They better make sure he isn’t hurt when they come back or so help me…”

Amethyst, in all her spitefulness, was quick to play devil’s advocate,

“They are big Gems G, they are responsible enough to take care of Steven. Besides, it’s not like there are any dangerous places we know that have water...uh, right?”

Pearl and Garnet go rigid at the thought of Steven at the Sea Shrine or the Lunar Spire; both locations notorious for their powerful waterfalls and dangerously sharp drop off points.

Brief images of a small figure with poofy hair falling to their doom and drowning in the oceanic depths flood their imagination before sending the two gems back to reality.

“We need to find them.” The two older Gems simultaneously said to each other as they yanked Amethyst along to the warp pad, strong maternal instincts yelling to bring their boy back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter 20
> 
> Steven saves the Sea Spire, but with different Crystal Gems
> 
> This could only end well
> 
> Please have a safe Fourth of July


	21. Making a splash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Steven's first mission begins

“And here we are, the _grand_ Sea Spire…” Introduced Bismuth with a sarcastic undertone to her voice.

The warp to the target location was swift, and from the column of light that transported the team of Crystal Gems they walked to admire the base of the colossal building suspended inside the vortex of a whirlpool.

A building that shambled and rocked like a Jenga tower…

“Hot dog, this place is huge! How is the ocean staying like that Bismuth?” asked a star-struck Steven.

“I’m not sure about the logic behind that honestly, I just helped build the place. And now we are here to make sure it stays, let’s move out!” She answers in kind, initiating the sortie.

It only took a few minutes of arriving for our group to face their first obstacle; the bridge leading to the entrance of the spire had collapsed from deterioration, leaving a gap between the Gems and their objective.

“Sheesh, this place was worse off than I thought. So much for Bismuth ingenuity, eh?” jabs Biggs in her attempt to make light of their situation. Her words earn her an offended gasp and a light-hearted smack on the shoulder from the construction Gem as they ponder their next course of action.

“Can’t we just toss each other across? You guys are all strong, and it doesn’t look like too much of a jump.” Adds Steven in effort to contribute to accomplishing their task.

“I like your style, but it wouldn’t work. Whatever is holding those waves is also causing this…” As a demonstration Bismuth chucks a piece of rock over the edge only for the material to be pulled downward to the abyss of the ocean.

The young hybrid approaches the edge and looks down to the chasm below in dismay, ignorant of the cracks forming around him.

“Yeah, that’s not good.” He says as the cliffside supporting him cracks under his weight and gives away.

With a startled yelp the three supervising Gems grab Steven by his shirt and Backpack and yank him backwards, saving his life from the lethal drop.

“Please be careful Steven! I do not know how good of a swimmer you are!” Frets Larimar as she hugs Stevens head to her chest.

“She’s right squishy, we’d never hear the end of it if you got hurt. Maybe we should take you back.” Suggests Biggs as she pulls Steven to his feet.

It was nice to see that they all cared for his well being, but he felt his pride be wounded at how fragile they all thought he was. He was part Gem like they were, and if he was going off the small accounts his primary caretakers told him of his mother he was supposed to be strong like she was!

He turned his gaze to his cheeseburger backpack and pouted while he lost himself in thought.

_‘What would mom do?’_

An idea struck him like lightning, and with fervor he unzipped his bag and pulled out a long orange cable that betrayed the compartment size of his novelty backpack.

“We can use this!” He exclaims as he presents an extension cord to the group. He begins to unfurl the cord and makes an approach to the edge of the cliff, now taking extra caution of the weakened ground.

“Steven, I don’t think the Spire has any three-prong outlets…” Bismuth deadpans as she stares on in confusion for what Steven is trying to do. In the next moment the youngster ties one end to the straps of his bag and tosses it as hard as he can, anticipating the pull of the vortex to yank his bag until…

“Yes!” Steven pumps his fist as the bag lands past onto the grounds of the Spire and lodges itself between two larger pieces of debris. With an experimental tug he is confident that his makeshift rope is strong enough to hold him, and with as much youthful energy he can muster he jumps over the edge.

“STEVEN!!!” The three onlooking Gems shout out to him as they can only look on and watch as he dangles from the cord, terrified that the pull will yank him down to his death. 

With adrenaline coursing through him, Steven fights against the pull and makes the climb upward until finally reaching the floor of the Spire as he throws himself onto the floor. Bismuth and Larimar let out a shaky breath as Steven recovers from his stunt, but Biggs only laughs as she makes a beeline to the hanging cord.

“Steven you genius lunatic!” The brown gem shouts as she mimics his actions by jumping over the chasm and lets herself fall towards the makeshift rope. Her climb upward was much less stressful than his, within seconds she joined him on the other side before pulling him into a hug.

Bismuth and Larmiar could only share a tired glance at each other before following suit, seeing as there were no easier alternatives to advancing on their mission.

* * *

The group made their way upwards to the area that is supposed to house the moon goddess statue as Steven receives a small history lesson of his surroundings.

“So this place is like a tall country club?” Steven asks to make value of such an environment.

“Something along those lines. This place was a hub for the upper crusts visiting Earth. Lower gems like us would probably never walk these halls in our entire lives, save for the Bismuths that had to build the place.” Our resident blacksmith explains with disdain in her voice. 

Upon reaching the next level the group of four were met with a ghastly sight.

Shreds of unknown creatures were strewn about, and all members of the party were taken back at the various levels of decay the cretins were in. Steven was about to approach one before a grey hand placed itself on his shoulder.

“Be careful, those look like crystal shrimp. They have shards that are a pain to take out if you get stung with. Trust me.” Warns Bismuth as she takes another scan of the room.

From the pathway leading to their objective location there are noticeably large gnashes left in the surrounding stone; all too large to belong to an animal from Earth.

“Looks like something is squatting here without permission. Have you ever seen a corrupted monster before Steven?” Asks a notably more serious Biggs. Steven nods in confirmation as he recalls a few weeks back of the centipeedle fiasco at his house, and remembers how even those small sized creatures were a threat due to their alien physiology.

The prospect of fighting a larger monster in a place that looks like it’ll fall apart any moment made Steven have second thoughts about tagging along.

The older trio of Gems moved onwards to the topmost level of the Spire, leaving the anxious Steven to pick up his pace to stay near them and was amazed at the sight he was met with upon reaching the top.

Pillars of luminescent materials lit up the surrounding architecture as the tip of the Spire rose past the surrounding ocean. The aquatic setting was a nice compliment to the blue aesthetic of the tower, and what little light pollution there was allowed the night sky above to shine with more stars than Steven thought was possible.

The sightseeing was rudely interrupted by a seismic wave rocking the tower, causing our group to brace themselves on the platform they stand on in order to not fall over, and as soon as the shaking stops they are met with the source.

Slinking up from the side rose a corrupted Orange Spodumene , slick and shiny with the moisture of the ocean. It gurgled at the intruders of its feeding grounds before turning its attention to the glowing materials to the side, and made a lightning quick spring towards it and began to rip off and swallow them in its lamprey maw.

With the distraction Bismuth, Biggs, and Larmiar formed a wall between the beast and Steven, but before a battle plan could be formulated the goddess statue began to glow in response to the overhead moon and began to draw back the attention of the monster.

A new source of light was in view, and the serpentine Orange Spodumene made no wasted movement in rearing back the flexible mandibles adorning its face and lunged at the group.

* * *

Back at the base of the Spire the warp activates to drop off the last three Crystal Gems. They all stood in dismay at the idea of Steven being in such a hazardous environment for his first mission, as expressed by an uneasy Pearl.

“They thought they could bring him _here_ of all places? Look at this place, it’s practically going to fall any-”

A falling chunk of the structure seemed to finish her thoughts appropriately as it fell in front of the trio and cracked itself into pieces on impact. Garnet analyzes the pieces before looking up towards the tower's peak, immediately widening her eyes under her visor.

The distant sounds of shouting and roaring alerts her that the other team of Gems was in combat with a corrupted monster, and her fists begin to clench from knowledge of her future vision that Steven had a very high probability to get injured.

“We need to move, **now**.” Was all she had to say as her other two compatriots nodded in agreement and rushed to make sure Steven’s first mission doesn’t end in disaster.

* * *

At the top the monstrous eel was proving to be a worthy adversary; the ribbon-like movements prevented Bismuth and Biggs from landing decisive blows and the slimy texture of its skin didn’t allow Larimars’ claws to cut effectively, leaving the group to be stumped as to how to handle it.

Another glowing surge of the idol in Stevens’ bag grabbed its attention again, and the monster turned away from the rebel gems in favor of the distracting source behind Steven. Anticipating the beast’s actions Bismuth called out,

“Steven toss your bag away! It’s after the light!” She ordered, but before he could comply the monster lunged towards the child and for a fraction of a second Bismuth believed that the little meatball was to be swallowed alive.

That was until the long form of the creature seemed to stop in its tracks and fold unto itself like an accordion around a large pink bubble where Steven was standing.

Inside of the circular shield the child was flinched in fear, but after a few seconds he opened his eyes and gasped in astonishment at his newfound ability.

“I stopped it! It didn’t get me!” He shouted in relief, but that glee was quickly dashed as the ground beneath them cracked from the impact of the body striking bubble, then those cracks splintered heavily along the ground as the platform supporting the top began to tilt.

“This place is gonna fall apart, take Steven!” Ushered Bismuth as Biggs and Larimar dashed over to secure the hybrid from the stunned monster.

As the bestial foe recovered and wound up for another attack the ground under it gave way, letting it tumble and fall down the collapsing tower into the ocean below as it screeched the whole way down.

The collapsing piece of history marked a mission failure, but the next priority was to make sure Steven got out safe. The child was scooped into a princess carry by Biggs as the group rushed down the steps to get as low as possible to the cliffside to make a leap of faith, lest they were all taken down with the Spire.

Debris falling from the ceiling began to impede the escaping Gems, with their only window slowly closing they pushed through the chaos and lept out from the tower and made the fall down. 

Any jump earlier would have spelled certain doom, but with the inner workings of the structure failing it allowed our team to safely get across without worry of the gravitational pull of the vortex, a with a heavy thud they made it out safe.

“Are you all okay?!” asked a very stressed Pearl. Her group had hoped to meet the trouble makers at the top but was ushered by Garnet to retreat before they could make it halfway once the Sea Spire began to collapse, and the pale gem was practically pulling her hair out in anxiety while she watched the whole tower crumble.

Any answer that was given was drowned out as the surrounding waves began to crash and flood the area the Crystal Gems stood on, so without a second of hesitation the seven of them made a dash to the warp pad and huddled together to get the hell out of there.

As the ocean fell back into its natural state the shadowy form of the Orange Spodumene began to swim under the waves as it maneuvered away to find a new stomping ground to thrive...

* * *

At the temple the quartet was being scolded by Garnet once everyone was checked over to make sure there were no injuries.

“I can’t believe you would take Steven with you for this! I understand that there are some places we want to keep standing but that is no excuse to put him in harm's way!” The tall fusion explained.

Biggs and Larimar held their heads down in shame considering the former had suggested pulling Steven out and the latter had the idea of bringing him in the first place.

Bismuth simply nodded her head and held her hands in surrender, “Yeah it got a little hectic, but if we had known that monster was there we wouldn’t have gone along with the mission without the whole team. This was just bad luck, alright?” 

Garnet huffed at her friend’s justification before slowly letting her shoulder relax. She knew the trio wasn’t so green as to forget the about corrupted gem menace and decided to give them the benefit of the doubt; what matters was that Steven is safe and hopefully understood the dangers that are present in their mission of protecting Earth.

The de-facto leader turned to face Steven who was currently being inspected by Pearl for the umpteenth time that evening as Amethyst barraged him with questions about his adventure.

They may have gotten lucky this time, but there was always the possibility that the Gems might not always be there when Steven gets in trouble sometime in the future. Once Steven had gone to bed Garnet made a note to talk with her sisters in arms about getting the young hybrid prepared for anything that may come.

His training would start after a talk over breakfast in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter twenty one
> 
> Had some paint lying around I hadn't used in a while, thought to add a little color to this chapters picture


	22. A friend indeed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Steven meets a kindred spirit

The weeks that followed the mission to sustain the Sea Spire were filled with many hours of sweat and tears for Steven.

At first he was excited when he was told that he would finally begin formal training to be the Crystal Gem he had always dreamed to be, but that excitement was met with reality as he was subject to the extended lengths of exercise.

His days shifted from weight lifting with Garnet and Bismuth to endurance training with Amethyst and often concluded with calisthenics courtesy of a more than eager Pearl.

Today was a rest day, and Steven’s sore body begged him to stay in bed for just a few more minutes, but he pushed through to get himself a much anticipated breakfast.

As Steven finished making his bowl of oatmeal he walked out to the porch to enjoy his meal with the morning tide. His first spoonful was interrupted as he noticed a person sitting alongside the cliff surrounding the temple.

It was a young girl, whose tan skin contrasted drastically from the baby blue sundress she was wearing. The glasses she wore complemented her attire nicely as she read from a book, clearly enjoying the peace of the morning as Steven was.

Steven had recognized the girl from a parade held at Beach City recently, and was surprised to see that she was around. He planned to make a good first impression by walking up and striking a conversation, but before he could leave his house he felt the shockwaves of a small earthquake shift the area.

It was only for a moment but these quakes had become increasingly frequent, and if the sudden rise of attacks on fishing boats and beached half-eaten sea life was anything to go off of, it was likely that Orange Spodumene from the Spire had found its way to Beach City. With a new excuse to finally work together the original Crystal Gems made small expeditions into the ocean to find the beast, but had no luck as of yet. 

Speaking of, as Steven recovers from the aftershocks he sees the pair consisting of Pearl and Biggs walk to the temple from the shoreline.

“Day six and still no monster. These quakes are starting to really- oh, Steven!” Pearl interrupts her grumbling at the sight of her favorite hybrid as she runs a hand through her damp hair.

“What’s got you up so early? We said you earned this rest day.” She asks him,

“Just eating some breaky, _and_ I recognized that girl over there, so I’m going to say hi!” Steven happily points towards the direction of the unknown girl who was still absorbed by the contents of her novel.

After roughly shaking her head like a dog to rid her hair of the seawater Biggs gets a read of the situation loud and clear, 

“Oh ho ho! Going to save that damsel from the beach monster, huh stud?” the rust-colored gem teased. Steven was all too familiar with her banter and quickly shot back,

“You bet. I’ll tell her to watch out for the brown monster with white hair around these parts!” Steven stuck his tongue out playfully as he turned and walked towards the distant stranger.

Pearl watched their exchange with amusement as she waved him off with Biggs Jasper nodding in his direction before registering his words.

“... _Brown monster with white_...Hey!”

* * *

As Steven went to approach the reading girl his pace began to slow as he started to overthink his introduction to her.

_Hello, what’s got you up so early? Nope, that just sounds sketchy._

_Hey, I recognize that author? Nah, she’d ask if I know their books._

_Hi, my name is Steven? Short and sweet, that’ll work!_

He was confident with his icebreaker, but before a word could be said another quake rocked the youths to the sand as a chunk of the temple began to crack and fall off. Within seconds Steven lunged towards the girl and extended his arm towards the falling hazard as it harmlessly bounced off the pink bubble formed around the two.

“Am I dead?” Asks the shivering girl as she keeps her eyes shut.

“No, we’re fine!” Steven reassures as he catches his breath from the rush of adrenaline exiting his system. With a clearing of his throat he extended his hand towards her and spoke,

“Hi, my name is Steven, what’s yours?” 

“...Connie.” She hesitantly replied as she accepted his hand as she scanned the pink-tinted area around her.

“What is this? Some kind of bubble?” She asks as she presses her palms against the surrounding barrier.

“Yeah it’s something I can do, I’m magic. Well actually more like half magic, from my mom’s side. Wait a second what am I doing?” The strange boy questions himself as he grunts with his arms extended.

“You didn’t hurt yourself did you? If you did I could-” Connie attempted to finish but was silenced by the pop of the entombing bubble.

“Sorry about that, still getting the hang of it.” Steven apologizes as he rubs the back of his head, earning a starstruck reaction from the girl.

“You really _are_ magic! That’s so cool!” She gushes at him, reveling in the breath of excitement from her previously uneventful day. Steven blushes slightly at her praise before downplaying his actions,

“It’s nothing too crazy, all I can do so far is just summon this bubble but the Gems are way better with this kind of stuff. They take care of me back at the temple over there.” He punctuated by jutting his thumb towards the aforementioned area.

“My parents said to stay away from that place because of falling rocks. Now I see why…” The young girl recalled as she looked at the surrounding rubble that could have seriously hurt her.

Steven nodded and gave her a smile before offering to her, 

“Do you want to come visit? I promise to protect you from any more evil rocks.” He joked, earning a small snort from her.

After receiving permission from her parents and hearing a small rundown of what exactly he and the gems are, the duo walked through the front door of his beach house.

“I’m home!” Steven called out to no one, clearly anticipating a lack of response. His downcast expression was noticed by his female companion who remained by the door.

“It’s fine if no one’s home Steven. I could always meet your family another time.” She offers with a smile; an action that quickly cheered up the young diamond.

“Yeah, they’re probably busy with Gem stuff. Want a snack?”

The day blurred by as the new pair of friends talked about each other's lives and asked nonsensical questions as kids do. It wasn’t long before Connie noticed the painting of a poofy-haired woman mounted on the wall over where she had entered. She maintained her gaze on the piece before turning to ask Steven,

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but who is that?” Connie inquires at the decoration. Steven recognizes where she has her attention and answers with a soft exhale through his nose,

“That’s my mom. The Gems told me that she was very kind and open minded, which apparently is not a common thing for Gems. Can you believe that she was the one that turned this mountain into the temple surrounding the house?” 

She absorbed his explanation with wonder as she remembered the towering presence of the multi-armed woman intricately carved into the mountainside before catching on to one particular word he said.

“...‘Was’? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring it up.” The Indian-American girl apologized, but was immediately forgiven by Steven as he raised his hands in surrender.

“It’s okay, you didn’t know! _I’m_ sorry for not bringing it up sooner!” 

The two laughed at their misunderstandings for a while before they both settled down and looked back up at the serene painting of Pink Diamond.

“She’s really pretty Steven.”

Steven felt the slight sensation of his eyes sting before sighing out,

“Thanks. Heh, can you believe I’ve been seriously thinking about dying my hair like hers?”

No sooner than he announced his revelation the house was rocked by the strongest aftershock that day, followed by a guttural screech Steven was able to recognize.

“Please stay in here, I have to get the Gems.” He pleaded his new friend, who violently shook her head in agreement before running outside to locate the persistent Orange Spodumene.

Now that the beast was at Beach City, the Crystal Gems had a homefield advantage of being in an environment that is stable and with the full team together.

With everyone’s combined might the corrupted lamprey stood no chance against the overwhelming assault of claws, spears, whips and brute force; and it was with a grand explosion of sand and Gem aether that the Orange Spodumene was finally put to rest and bubbled so that it could not hurt anything anymore.

A quick after-action report concluded that no extreme damage was caused to the surrounding town and that all Crystal Gems were accounted for, save for a lingering human who oversaw the entire conflict from the safety of the beach house balcony.

With another job well done, the party moved back into the temple interior to pay compliments and relax in the knowledge that there was one less corrupted beast terrorizing the world. Soon after Biggs, Bismuth and Larimar said their goodbyes and warped away to leave Steven and his primary guardians to themselves until duty called once again.

The gang was finally together, and Steven pulled his new friend in to meet his family,

“Hey guys, this is my friend I was talking to, Connie!” He introduced her to them.

The young girl offers a shy wave at the taller warriors, but her anxiety of meeting the alien women was dispelled as they all introduced themselves and displayed all their charming quirks through their conversations. 

Night quickly fell after, and Steven offered to walk Connie home with Amethyst as chaperone. When the trio departed Pearl and Garnet looked onward from the temple grounds as they talked,

“She seemed nice, and has a fine taste in music as well.” Praised Pearl as Garnet nodded in agreement,

“She will be a good friend to Steven. He’ll need more human connections like her in his life.” The darker-toned fusion foreshadowed with Pearl sighing in recognition.

“He’s just growing up so fast!” Cried Pearl as she wiped a tear from her eye, earning her an awkward pat on the back from Garnet.

“Pat pat..”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter twenty two
> 
> drawing this chapters picture challenged my ability to draw in prospective, but I am satisfied with the end result. 
> 
> I'm going to add small splashes of color to all future drawings to really make the pictures pop!


	23. Two of three makes me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Steven meets a giant woman

“I’ll see you later!” waved off Steven Universe as he bid farewell to his newest human friend Connie Maheswaren as she waved from the passenger seat of her mother's car.

Ever since their less-than conventional first meeting together the two have been hanging out with each other as much as the girls studies allowed. This day would have been no different, but a scheduled run to the mall for the upcoming school year had cut their day short and required Connie to leave, giving Steven the rest of the day to think of something to do.

_-ding-_

And it looks like that something just arrived.

Steven rushes through his front door to see his caretakers talking amongst themselves as they step from the recently used warp pad.

“Good morning! What are y’all doing today?” Steven asks in hopes that either one of Garnet, Amethyst or Pearl would be available to spend time with him.

“Good morning to you Steven. Garnet was just informing us of a small excursion we are about to launch.” Pearl elaborated as she stepped to the side to include him in their small circle.

“Come and listen, this can be a very educating opportunity for you.” She invited, bringing Steven to clench his fists in excitement as he made his place along the group with a ruffle of his hair courtesy of Amethyst. Now that the youngster was included Garnet resumed her brief,

“I’ve pinpointed the locations of the Heaven and Earth Beetles. Bismuth and I will receive the Earth one from the boiling lava lake since we can both handle the smoldering temperatures. You three should have no problems getting the Heaven beetle from the Sky Spire.” Our resident fusion declared, much to the visible disdain of Pearl and Amethyst. Steven’s own discomfort was shown as he began fumbling with his hands.

“Another spire? This one isn’t going to fall apart on us like the last one right?” He asked, this time getting his answer from Amethyst,

“Don’t trip about that Ste-man, what you should be worrying about is that thing on your shirt.” pointed out the purple gem as she placed her index finger on his chest. He looked down to see what she was going on about, but was flicked on the nose instead.

“Now that was just mean Amethyst...” whined Steven as he rubbed his nose and frowned at the fact that he fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book.

“You just make it too easy bro. And we’re off!” She declared as she about-faced towards the warp pad with her flicking finger extended towards the ceiling the entire time. Pearl flanked her side and rolled her eyes in preparation of the tiresome day ahead of her with Steven following right behind, still rubbing his poor sniffer.

* * *

The Sky Spire was in much better condition than the last one in the ocean, much to the relief of Steven. As he basked in the beauty that the ancient gem temple was surrounded by he could hear Pearl and Amethyst arguing once again,

“-just never take these missions seriously, you even flicked Steven’s nose when he was asking a valid question Amethyst!” Pearl argued as her worries were shrugged off by the Quartz in front of her.

“I think it’s stressful to be so uptight over everything, I don’t know how you do it for so long. This is why we never form **_Opal_ ** anymore.” Amethyst pouted as she continued to walk along the edge of the path leading up to the Spire.

“We don’t form **_Opal_ ** because you are just so...just...DIFFICULT!!” Pearl sputtered to finish her thoughts as the shorter Amethyst smirked at the frustration she was in. The last part of Pearl’s rant had certainly caught Steven’s attention as he rushed to hook both Gem’s arms into his own.

“What are you guys talking about? What’s **_Opal_ **?” He asked in anticipation of learning another new fact about the Crystal Gems.

“Not what is, _who is_ ; **_Opal_ ** is the entity created when Amethyst and I fuse together when the occasion calls. Recent years have made it a _chore_ to get her back in the field however…” The pale gem sneered at her companion who stuck out her tongue as she explained.

“You guys can combine together?! Do you just mold together like clay, or how does that work?” Steven asks with newfound wonder in his eyes. The notorious stars in his pupils made it impossible for any of the Crystal Gems to ignore him, but before Pearl can clarify further she is interrupted by Amethyst once again.

“She’s got the best of both us; the stone-cold Betty she gets from me, the tallness and pointy nose is all Pearl.” She took joy in the face he made as he tried to imagine what the badass description she gave him would make.

“I certainly contribute more than that and you know it. Now let's stop showboating and just get this mission over with.” Stomped off Pearl as Steven and Amethyst looked at one another before matching her pace.

As she walks ahead of them Pearl subconsciously rubs the ridge of her nose with a slight puff of her cheeks,

_‘My nose does not stand out that much...’_

* * *

A hike up the hill that supports the Spire was the only obstacle so far, but the steps and hallways were braved by our trio and it was by high noon that the group reached the structure’s apex.

Similarly to how the Sea Spire had a structure to house the Moon Goddess statue, a pedestal sat at the top, this time having a small house of time-forgotten design in place.

“No one’s home…” Steven sighed after both him and Pearl checked the minuscule structure a few times over. The frustration of the day was catching up to Pearl, and she ran a quick hand through her hair as she exhaled sharply through her nose,

“I don’t understand why it’s not here. Garnet’s visions are always right about these things…” She pondered as she took a clarifying breath and slowly pressed her palms together while turning to both Steven and Amethyst.

“We are going to have to police call this entire mountain. We aren’t leaving until we get that bug.” 

“Ugh…” the duo groaned out as they turned towards the entryway leading back into the structure before the young Diamond stuffed his hands in his pockets,

“And I didn’t even get to see what **_Opal_ ** looked like.” 

A piercing screech stopped the group in their tracks and before they knew it a massive avian-like beast landed between the Crystal Gems and their path downwards, knocking up a cloud of dust on descent. 

The monster clicked its beak together as it eyed the shapes in front of it before spreading its wings in preparations to take off. Pearl was quick to summon her spear and braced herself to toss the weapon like a javelin, but before she could throw it the creature blitzed towards the trio and knocked both Amethyst and herself away with the gust of wind following it.

Amethyst spat out dust that invaded her face as she assessed her situation; a stupidly fast corrupted monster, paired with the gem she got along with the least, and Steven was nowhere to be found.

_Wait…_

Her pupils shrunk as she sharply scanned the area around her, dread filling every fiber of her being as she could only see Pearl remain at the Spire’s top. She roughly yanked her partner to her feet to yell at her,

“That thing has Steven!”

The monster careened in the air as it looped around to swiftly pick off the last two invaders as it ignored the movement in its bowels.

* * *

  
  


It all happened so fast, first the massive bird landed in front of his group, next thing he knew he was swallowed alive without even putting up a fight. Steven looked at his surroundings and found this thing that ate him starting eating other things too over time, and it was by dumb luck that the Heaven Beetle was inside, albeit somewhat damaged.

He pocketed the small creature before focusing back on making it out alive, and with a clench of his fists Steven felt his belly fill with a fiery determination.

“This isn’t the end of Steven Universe! I still got stuff I want. To. DO!!!” The Diamond shouted as he put as much effort into tapping his power as he could. The days spent training with the Gems bore fruit as he was finally able to push out a bubble on command, and used his energy to make it as big as possible.

He felt the body of the monster resist the growing mass inside it, but did not relent in his attempt to pop the beast from the inside. A pained screech and an abrupt stop made Steven open his eyes to see what had happened, but was dumbfounded to see two pairs of arms feeling about the inside of the creature before they had all moved to press their palms to his bubble one by one.

He looked on as one of the pale gray hands made a quick jabbing motion at his bubble before a gut feeling told him to send his protective ability away. Immediately after dispelling it he was grabbed by the mysterious arms and roughly yanked out of the beast.

The figure whose arms had saved Steven gripped him tightly as they fell downwards before landing superman style back on the Sky Spire. They placed him down gently before reassuring him in a low voice,

_“Stay low.”_

An order that made room for no argument.

The youngest Crystal Gem looked on at his savior as they strided towards the building's edge while brandishing a very familiar purple whip and cyan spear. The large ponytail blocked a majority of the torso, but he had managed to catch a glimpse of their face before being set aside.

_A stone-cold expression with a pointed nose, and not to mention that height…_

“... **_Opal_ **?” Steven breathed out in astoundment.

The warrior in question paid him no mind, instead bringing the two weapons of her component parts together to form an ethereal bow that managed to stand taller than she was. A gentle pinch of her fingers was all she needed to draw back the string of her weapon, and once her arms were fully cocked back a glimmering arrow manifested to be fired at the unfortunate target flying towards them.

_“Phew…_ ” The tall fusion slowly breathed out as she launched her lightspeed arrow at the assaulting beast with a hard light trail tracing the path behind it.

The force of the impact violently stopped the beast mid flight as it fluttered to maintain trajectory before crashing into the side of the Spire, poofing its form soon afterward.

Apparently disappointed that the fight was finished so soon, Opal sucked her teeth as she shifted her weight to be supported by her bow as she looked to the horizon. She continued to stare into nothing before getting her attention drawn back at the kid behind her who had cleared his throat.

“Are you... **_Opal_ **?” He asked the tall woman in front of him, who simply nodded once in affirmation. He was amazed at the power the fusion of Pearl and Amethyst had once they worked together, but he was still in the dark about the process of fusion and what comes after. Steven placed his hands to his chest to make himself appear as non threatening as possible while asking,

“Do you know who I am?”

The four-armed fusion peered at him just long enough to make him worried before kneeling down to slowly place her left index finger on his shirt. Steven became very anxious as to why she was trying to do so and involuntarily followed her finger to where she was pointing, just to be flicked in the nose.

“I know who you are, Steven.” She smirked at his reaction to the callback of Amethyst’s gesture at the beginning of the day as she hoisted him up to have him ride on her shoulders.

* * *

Garnet and Bismuth were back at the Obsidian Temple jeering with one another over the successful mission on their part. The Earth Beetle was placed in a plastic terrarium on the table as they awaited the return of the three sent out to retrieve the Heaven Beetle, and had spent that last thirty minutes poking fun at one another.

Their mischief was interrupted by the sound of the warp pad activating, and Garnet patted her partner for the day on the shoulder before meeting the new duo of Steven and Opal with her terrarium in hand.

“The Heaven Beetle?” Garnet asked the other fusion, who had shot her eyes wide open.

“I don't have it." Opal gasped, "There was a monster. Amethyst and Pearl had to call me up to stop it, but I think the Beetle was lost…” Opal explained as she took Steven from her shoulders and unfused back. The two remaining gems had their gazes cast downward in shame as Garnet looked down at the plastic container in her palms before Steven called out,

“Wait, I found this when I was eaten by the bird! Is this it?” He reaches into his jean pocket and pulls out the correct Beetle in question. Garnet extended the terrarium towards Steven to allow him to place it inside before bubbling it away.

“I’m glad you are all safe, and it looks like you showed Steven a thing or two.” Garnet smiled slightly at Pearl and Amethyst, who began to side eye each other.

“I shouldn’t have taken out my frustration on you both. I’ll try and loosen up in the future.” Pearl apologizes before getting a rough smack on the back,

“Don’t be sorry, I shouldn’t have egged you on.” Amethyst smiles back as the whole group takes a seat on the central couch to relax.

“That was a face I haven’t seen in years! Must’ve been a tough cookie to bring **_Opal_ ** out of the woodworks, huh?” Bismuth recalled as the sun began to dip towards the skyline, darkening the sky outside.

“She was amazing! All it took was one shot and bang, over!” Steven’s praise began to elicit small blushes from the duo being acknowledged.

Bismuth laughed at his explanation while Garnet gave an approving nod to her fellow gems before turning to Steven.

“That is one of the powers of fusion Steven. I know you’ll be great at fusing one day.” She told him before reclining back and parking her feet on the coffee table in front of her.

Steven laughed along with Garnet's words before looking back at the two who formed the powerful fusion from today.

“Wait, I can do that too?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter twenty three
> 
> Hands are still difficult to draw, and Opal has four! She was a challenge for sure, but not nearly as much as Rose


	24. Pinks Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Steven discovers what is in his mothers room

“ **Game Over.** ”

A drawn out sigh escapes Steven’s mouth as he throws his head back in frustration. The newest _Lonely Blade_ fighting game had proven harder than anticipated, and after spending his morning stuck without making any progress he decided to shut his gaming station off and walked down towards the kitchen for lunch.

In the midst of preparing a ham and cheese sandwich his attention was drawn to the door leading into the Obsidian Temple splitting open to allow Garnet to walk out. Steven greeted her with a smile before finishing his meal and took a chomp out of it.

“Anyfing’ goin’ on today?” He tried to ask with a mouthful of food in his mouth. His question veered the fusion to meet him at the kitchen counter, and for a moment she puckered her lips in thought before turning to him,

“Nothing for today, unless you have any exciting plans planned ahead for us.” Garnet answered while she leaned her head to support it on her knuckles. Steven shook his head as he continued to eat while the duo remained in a comfortable silence until finally speaking up.

“Actually there is one thing I’ve been meaning to ask but there hasn’t really been time…” Steven began as he continued to eye the bedazzled door beyond the Warp Pad.

“How do you guys open that door over there? It opens like a sliding door for you but it just doesn’t do anything for me, do you think I hurt its feelings?” He joked out.

The question had stumped Garnet in a way she hadn’t anticipated; opening the door was a natural action for herself and her fellow Gems that she never thought once about it, she could compare similarly to how a human's heart pumps blood independently without being told to. 

“It just does, the mechanics behind the door recognize the signatures of our gems and opens the pathway to the room associated with ourselves, for the most part.”

It was an off-the-cuff response that Garnet came up with that she hoped would satisfy Steven, but she looked on in curiosity as the child walked up to the door and flashed his Diamond naval to the door in question.

“Open Sesame!” Steven ordered as he stood in front of the blocked doorway, and after a moment of nothing happening he lowered his shirt in disappointment.

“And I thought I was doing so good with my gem powers when I can’t even open a door. _Pbbbbbt…_ ” He blew a raspberry out of frustration as Garnet walked up to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“You’re doing fine, this was on us for not showing you something so simple. I’ll get the others and we can see what we can come up with, does that sound good?”

Steven nodded in appreciation as Garnet smiled back at him from the Warp before shooting a peace sign as she transports herself to who knows where.

Minutes go by without anyone coming through, but Steven still remained with his back against the tricky door as he pondered how to activate it.

_‘Garnet said it recognizes gem signatures, but then how come it doesn’t for me?’_

Steven wondered as he traced the outline of where his gem meets his skin,

_‘Is it because I’m a hybrid? Or is it because I’m a boy? Oh jeez, this is so confusing, I just wish I had answers…’_

Suddenly the gem fixed to his stomach began to glow immediately after that train of thought, and with a snaking split down the door it quickly snapped open, leaving Steven to fall backwards.

With a sharp gasp he launched himself at his feet and jumped into a new room he had not seen before, ignoring how the opening sealed itself shut behind him as he took in the sight around him.

He was standing in a meadow with light pink grass grown just past his knees. It seemed to be the only detail that stretched out towards the horizon in every way save for a small hill crowned with a tree that looked very similar to an Acadia.

“Oh hey!” Steven exclaimed as he marched towards the hill only to discover the surrounding trinkets and decorations placed about; mannequins that wore vintage clothes from the middle ages to the 80's, racks adorned with weapons and rifles, and even an antique vinyl player.

He drank in every bit of memorabilia as he began to feel a growing sense of nostalgia flow through him; he instinctively understood that this was his mother's room and as a result, his own too. Tears began to well in his eyes as he sifted through his mother’s collection, but could you blame him? He always got emotional whenever he was dealing with the subject of his mom, and the waterworks especially came when he ends up finding something that she had personally kept.

Steven was satisfied with having been able to find another useful function for his gem, and was even giddier having found a whole trove of things his mother left behind. He wasn’t sure how long he had been in Pink’s room so he decided to find a way to leave while also making a mental note to bring the Gems with him next time he visited.

As soon as he stepped off the hill he noticed more objects catch his eye that had been placed behind the hill that gathered most of Pink Diamond’s souvenirs, so figuring there was no harm in staying for another five minutes Steven walked over to investigate.

The objects in question were by far the largest of all, and Steven stood in awe to admire them,

A statue of a sitting lion carved from stone, placed in a manner that almost made Steven think it was acting as a guardian of sorts.

The other was an obelisk that was laid against the hill with small inscriptions written on all of its sides.

The text was in Gem language but lessons with Pearl had made him just skilled enough to understand the alien words, and with that knowledge Steven made a look over to see if he could deduce the words in front of him:

B̶i̶x̶b̶i̶t̶e̶

The word Steven read confused him; was this some sort of gem his mother knew? Why would it be crossed out? As he looked around he could see more crossed out names written across the artifact.

W̶a̶t̶e̶r̶m̶e̶l̶o̶n̶ ̶T̶o̶u̶r̶m̶a̶l̶i̶n̶e̶

O̶c̶e̶a̶n̶ ̶J̶a̶s̶p̶e̶r̶

S̶n̶o̶w̶f̶l̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶O̶b̶s̶i̶d̶i̶a̶n̶

̶B̶r̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶J̶a̶d̶e̶

His heart rate quickened while he scanned the entirety of the obelisk as he saw easily over one hundred names written and crossed out, save for five that he had recognized in an instant.

The only five not crossed out were the names of the older Crystal Gems he talks to on a daily basis, and as Steven began to put two and two together he felt a sense of dread flood his system.

_A memorial…_

Questions began to bubble in Steven’s mind as he tried to comprehend why his mom would have such a thing in her room, questions that he was hoped would be answered by the Gems.

“I gotta get out of here…” He resolved as a familiar line shot itself down from the distance to reveal the living space of the Obsidian Temple. He was about to step out the door when he heard his _own_ voice call out.

“Hey!”

Steven stood frozen at what he had heard before slowly turning his head in the direction he could hear his echo call from.

"...Hello?" He hesitantly called out to the empty room. His exit was ignored entirely in favor of discovering what or where the mimic of his voice was originating from.

A short game of Marco Polo with his own voice brought him to a peculiar object that he overlooked upon his sightseeing.

His eyes fell on a mirror resting face up against the vinyl player. Steven noticed how his voice stopped playing as he looked to stare at himself in the odd blue mirror.

“Where was that voice coming from mister mirror…” He asks himself as he inspects the small object before receiving an answer,

“Voice-from-mirror-” The things response almost made him drop it in surprise, but he caught it before it could potentially shatter.

“You can talk? How can...what…” This was all too much for one day, and with a tired wipe of his face Steven simply looked into the mirror as he made his way out of the room.

“I’ll see what's the deal with you mystery mirror, but I just have to lie down a sec.” He promised the object as he placed it on the coffee table in the living room only to flop face-first into the couch beside him.

What ever the small mirror tried to say was drowned out soon after that, and in a few minutes Steven let himself fall asleep to prepare for a talk with the Gems as soon as he woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter Twenty Four
> 
> One subtle change is the decision to make the pocket dimension in Lion's mane Pink's room.
> 
> Don't let the statue worry you, the feline is alive and will be present further down the story


	25. Mirrors to the soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where another survivor of the war becomes known

_No way, is someone finally here? Make a noise, anything so you can help me…_

[...]

_Yes! That voice came from this mirror! Just give me more words to copy…_

[...]

_No wait don’t put me down yet, you have to help me!_

[...]

_A Pearl? What is she doing in a place like this? Don’t touch me!_

* * *

Pearl had agreed to Garnet’s request to meet at the living space with Amethyst when she noticed a peculiar mirror settled next to a slumbering Steven, and found herself picking it up to stare at her reflection through the object's smeared surface as she moved her face to different angles.

“You done checking yourself out?” Amethyst asked from the side with a monotone voice as she picked her nose.

Flustered at being accused of doing something so narcissistic, Pearl was quick to defend herself,

“I was not “checking myself out”, I was just looking at this mirror! Where did Steven get something so dirty…” She huffed as she brought the small object to the sink to wash it. Amethyst rolled her eyes in an “if you say so” manner before glancing at the opening door leading into the Obsidian Temple.

Garnet had entered with a handful of papers and markers in order to properly set a teaching environment to show Steven how to utilize the temple door, but her momentum had stopped in its tracks when she laid eyes on her intended student currently taking a nap on the couch.

“I’m glad you are all here, we are going to teach Steven how to open the door to visit the rooms of the Temple, if the time ever comes.” The fusion explained with a hushed tone as to not disturb Steven.

The other two gems nodded in understanding as they stood by while they waited for Steven to wake up with Pearl placing the now cleaned mirror back on the coffee table.

With a small groan the youngest Crystal Gem slowly rose from his prone position on the couch as he reached his arms over his head to stretch his sleep away. 

“Hnng...oh, hey guys. What’s going on?” Steven asked as he massaged his eyes.

“I am a gem of my word, we are going to try and teach you how to further use your abilities. The three of us together may be able to accomplish that today.” The tall fusion explained as she gestured to the papers on the desk and her two assistants standing by.

Steven smiled at her offer but immediately remembered what had previously transpired with one look at the object on the table,

“Wait a second Garnet, I figured it out already! I was in mom’s room; and she had lots of old stuff laying around in some pink field, and that’s where I found this talking mirror!” He explained with gusto as he presented the now clean mirror.

A beat passed as the gems stared at the mute looking glass before shooting him a collective look.

“You went into Pink’s room?! Oh Steven that’s wonderful, and you did it on your own!” Pearl praised as she rushed over to hug him.

Amethyst was much less enthusiastic about the news. She was more interested in this acclaimed “talking mirror” Steven seemed to be so pumped about as Garnet stared down at her papers in dismay.

“That’s all great and dandy, but what’s up with this thing bud? I’m noticing a lack of talking from this talking mirror. You’re not going crazy, are you?” The purple gem teased as Steven brought the hand-held reflector to his face.

“C'mon little buddy don’t be shy, they won’t bite. Actually, I think Amethyst might but I won’t let it happen. Just trust me.” Steven assured the mirror. 

Suddenly the object began to flash for a moment from its surface before sounding out loud,

“Just trust-Steven.”

He beamed at the response as he presented his proof that he was not entirely bonkers, but his smile began to diminish as the other gems in his audience all looked on in a befuddled manner.

“An artifact in Pink’s room? Why would she keep something like this?” Pearl pondered as she analyzed the article.

Garnet suddenly stood from her seat as she strode towards Steven with her hand extended,

“Give it here Steven, we will see what this item’s purpose is.” She firmly requested. The mirror’s previous words made her uneasy, and an instinctual gaze into probability alerted her that this object was more than it seemed, and would cause substantial ripples with the relationship Steven has with the Crystal Gems. She made it a point to get it away from him as soon as possible.

“Don’t-give. Just trust-Steven.” The object reiterated with the mix of voices accumulated from the group, making Steven look between it and the still-waiting Garnet.

“It doesn’t look like it wants to. It looks like it’ll just talk to me right now, maybe I can figure it out with you?” Steven offered with an anxious smile. Garnet’s hand remained out as the flat line of her mouth slowly curved downwards into a frown.

“Uhh...maybe you should listen to Garnet. She knows what she’s talking about with this kinda stuff Steve-o.” Amethyst suggested as she stepped between the hybrid and the suddenly imposing Garnet. She was about to voice her argument in Steven’s favor when she noticed a particular object on the back of the hand mirror that Steven had clearly looked past with his inexperienced eyes, the reason Garnet was put on edge so suddenly.

A gem with a crack running across its surface.

“If this has something to do with gem business I should have part in it too. That’s what you’ve been teaching me for, but you’d just throw it all out the window because of this thing?” Steven claimed with frustration evident in his tone.

The future was coming to pass. Garnet had hoped that Steven would simply trust her word and hand it off, but the small chance of defiance occurred instead, forcing Garnet to act before anything spirals further out of control.

“The mirror, **now**.” 

“No!”

Steven smacked away Garnet’s reaching hand as she hissed suddenly before turning tail to dash out the front door with the object in his possession. He had unintentionally backhanded the gemstone resting in her palm, making Amethyst’s eyes go wide in shock and Pearl shoot her hand to her mouth,

“Steven what has gotten into you?!” The pale gem shouted out as she followed the trouble maker out the door. Amethyst remained stupefied in place as she tried to process all that had transpired in the past few minutes. She thought this was supposed to be a teaching session!

Amethyst felt a firm hand place itself on her back as she was scooted forward,

“Let’s go Amethyst. That kid is in alot of trouble.”

.

As soon as Steven was out the door he felt the weight of his actions pile on his shoulders. He just lashed out at Garnet over something so stupid! Why was he making such a big deal over it?

“The-Garnet-doesn’t-trust-Steven.” The azure piece in his palm said as if it had managed to read his thoughts exactly. He turned towards the beach and hid himself behind a large rock imbedded in the shoreline.

“That’s the problem! This is something I can handle, but they don’t see it that way. Why have you got them so riled up?”

“Mirror-is-gem” It had finally managed to say once the right words were able to be mimicked.

Steven could feel his heart drop to his stomach at this revelation. His mind was running a mile a minute as he stared at his own reflection before clasping the handle with both hands.

“You’re a gem? How did you get in this thing? I thought they were the only gems left from-” He pleaded for clarification as he flinched from the voices of the Crystal Gems nearby.

“ **STEVEN!!!** ”

Time was running out, and against his better judgement Steven listened to his heart that ached to help this apparently trapped gem.

“Tell me, what can I do to help you?”

“Get-me-from-mirror.” The mirror was quick to reply as it showed a silhouette of a hand reaching to pluck the gem resting on the back panel.

Steven nodded at the instructions as he gripped onto the blue gem and pulled. In his efforts he noticed the waves from the nearby ocean reaching towards his feet in thin streams before forming a puddle around him.

As he felt the gem loosen from its place, the water began to vibrate violently around him the closer he came to pulling out the gemstone from its prison. As he finally managed to yank it out the mirror’s surface shattered instantaneously as the now freed gem suspended itself in midair to take form.

A shift of light revealed the gem; she was around Pearl’s height with a blue two piece dress to complement her own baby blue skin tone. She stood for a moment before buckling her knees and collapsed towards the sand, but Steven was quick to catch her halfway.

“You...actually helped me.” The new gem seemed taken back at his actions as she attempted to look at him. When their gazes met Steven was shocked to see that her eyes had absent pupils, and seemed to be entirely reflective like the mirror she was stuck in. He was about to question it when she continued to speak,

“Your name was Steven, right?” A brief nod from him confirmed it, “I’m Lapis, Lapis Lazuli. What are you doing with the Crystal Gems?” 

Steven took the opportunity to lift his shirt to prove his position, 

“I’m one of them you see, I got this gem from my mom after she met my dad.”

On exposing his gemstone Lapis’s eyes shot wide in disbelief; the coloration, the shape, and the position it rested on his form made her come to one assumption,

“No way...”

The duo was finally caught by the Gems as they lunged to surround Lapis in a triangle with all weapons brandished. Pearl had positioned herself steadfast between the blue gem and Steven before ordering him,

“Steven, go back in the house. We’ll handle this.”

He would have listened to her instructions until he heard the fury laced in Lapis’s voice,

“You three knew I was in there, and you didn’t say **anything** …” She all but growled out as she summoned a looming arm from the ocean around them.

“What have I done to deserve being hidden away?!” A slam from the oceanic limb accompanied her shout as it pinned Garnet to the sand while blasting away the rest of the Crystal Gems from the sheer impact.

It hurt Steven to see Garnet shut down so utterly, so in an effort to spare anyone else from getting hurt he tried to be diplomatic,

“Lapis stop! You’re out now, you don’t have to be here anymore!” Steven insisted as he rushed over to where she stood.

Upon realizing this fact the terraformer retracted the liquid extremity from Garnet who began to cough out the seawater that had entered her system. Lapis was content with the damage she unleashed, and soon looked backwards to the ink-black ocean before parting a path through the waves.

“You’re right, we don’t have to be here anymore. Let’s go back.” Lapis had suggested with an extended hand.

“Go back? Where are you talking about?” The hybrid implored the offering gem.

“...Home.” 

Steven looked at her open hand before taking a peek at the ruin Lapis had caused to his family before facing her again to sadly shake his head.

“I can’t…”

The Lazuli lowered both hand and head in understanding before turning away to dispel the path she manipulated.

“Just don’t believe everything they say. The Crystal Gems all like to keep secrets.” 

And with a crash from a monstrous wave Lapis was sucked into the ocean, gone for the time being.

Steven released a shaky breath as he turned back to make sure neither of his guardians were hurt too roughed up.

“You aren’t hurt too bad are you guys? I shouldn't have hit you Garnet, I’m so sorry!” The guilty teenager cried as he hugged the soaked fusion. She reciprocated the gesture and hugged his trembling form with one arm as to calm him down for moment. It took an astounding amount of willpower to not allow the anger that was rising up inside the fusion make itself present on her face.

She was frustrated for a multitude of reasons; both for Steven challenging her in subject she had centuries of familiarity with and for allowing herself to release an extremely dangerous gem onto Earth.

Their talk would have to be postponed after what the water manipulator had said before departing, the warning still echoing in all of the groups heads.

_‘The Crystal Gems all like to keep secrets.”_

Garnet’s closed fists could be audibly heard tightening,

_‘You said you’d be honest from now on, Pink…’_

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter twenty five
> 
> Lapis makes a splash, and her existence plants seeds of doubt


	26. Still waters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where the Crystal Gems figure out what to do with Lapis

A week has passed since the Lapis incident, and the atmosphere at home has certainly changed.

While Steven’s act of defiance was certainly warranted, he could have handled it better to get his point across without slapping away Garnet or letting a dangerous terraforming gem free with no tabs on her whereabouts.

Hey, you live and you learn.

Once everyone had time to take a breather and calm down to address this potential threat, a small talk was had to keep all members of the Crystal Gems in the know of what had happened. The young diamond understood entirely when he was told that he would be grounded for his actions, even going so far as to allow Amethyst to literally bury him in the ground with his head above the surface.

Pearl did not find that funny in the slightest.

A month without television and video games would suffice for Steven to wait out his punishment whilst the Gems remained on high alert for any sightings of the aquatic manipulator. 

At least he could enjoy the day eating watermelons with his old man at the Temple to pass the time.

* * *

Garnet’s clairvoyance had let her know that recent occurrences of whirlpools and increased strength in the oceans waves was evidence that Lapis was attempting to do something with the planet’s water.

The surges had come and gone with no presence of the gem yet, but they took no chances in guarding landmarks with warp pads to prevent her from leaving Earth and potentially letting the existence of the Crystal Gems bring Homeworld’s attention back to the planet.

One such landmark was Mask Island; a landmass in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with breathtakingly massive geode formations visible from any position one would view it at. It was the warp pad here that made it a very probable target for Lapis Lazuli, and it was where we would find Biggs Jasper pulling watch.

Once the first few hours came and went the rust-colored gem found herself bored and began to walk about the island like she wasn’t on the lookout for a hostile enemy. By nightfall her shift would be over, and she decided to spend the rest of her time sitting by the beach and enjoying a coconut by crunching into the thing like an apple.

Her relaxation was interrupted by the waves receding from her feet to be further pulled back from the shore. As a massive column of water began to rise into the sky Biggs shot to her feet in alarm, but before she could move to call the reinforcements of her allies the makeshift tower distorted and collapsed onto itself.

The waves that crashed downwards soaked the Quartz much more than she would have liked, and as she wrung the saltwater from her hair with a pout she noticed a blue body wash itself onto the beach.

The body shot up and stared at her with a scowl; belonging to none other than the target Lapis.

Biggs released her hair and held her hands up,

“Look, it’s cool…” 

Lapis was not buying into her attempt to look friendly and rose her hand to crash a wave over the Crystal Gem, but flinched and fell to the sand instead.

Biggs was well aware of the power that Lazulis possessed, but words from her sister group’s battle in Beach City informed the former Quartz soldier that this foe had a crack in her gem which severely hindered her power.

_‘Handle the situation at my level, Pearl should be here any minute…’_ She thought to herself as she attempted to buy some time for her relief to come. If Biggs could get this Lapis to not attack on sight, things would become monumentally easier for the Gems. 

As Lapis found her strength to hold herself up she looked at the Crystal Gem in front of her before scoffing,

“So what are you gonna do? You gonna shatter me, or how about stick me in another mirror?” She spat out.

Biggs simply sat down with her legs crossed as she reached to pick up her soaked coconut before splitting it in half,

“None of that crazy stuff. You’re stuck here whether you like it or not, and us Crystal Gems outnumber you as of right now. How do _you_ want to handle that?” Biggs explained as she took another bite of her snack.

Lapis could care less about who is left or what happened, she just wanted to be off this damned rock and never look back. With a slump in her shoulders she kneeled down to sit across from Biggs on the sand.

“I just want to get away from here. Away from the fighting and just go back home, I wasn’t even supposed to get caught up in all of this.” Lapis complained as she drew her knees to her chest and hugged them tightly.

_‘A victim of collateral damage. Better than ending up a monster roaming the Earth I guess.’_

The sound of the nearby warp pad accompanied by Pearl calling out for Biggs ended the conversation between the two as Lapis began to slowly move herself back towards the sea.

“Wait, if you told the others what you just told me, we could make a compromise.” Biggs said in an attempt to keep Lapis from disturbing the ocean further.

The aqua gem in question apprehensively looked back at the water before letting herself stop.

“Might as well. This crack is just gonna get worse until I shatter, not like anything you can do can change that.” 

* * *

As Pearl found her companion Biggs with the Lapis they were searching for, she was quick to brandish her cyan spear to assist, but a placating gesture from her comrade let Pearl know that Lapis was subdued for the time being. The brown Quartz pulled Pearl to side once they were reunited,

“This gem is a casualty of the war. We should all get together and see if we can get her off of Earth and out of our hair.” The white-haired gem offered.

“Are you _insane_?!” Pearl exclaimed aloud, “She’s still probably loyal to Homeworld and would sell us out in a heartbeat. That’s too much of a risk to take Biggs!”

The Quartz nodded in understanding but looked over her shoulder at Lapis who was staring down at her bare feet with a neutral expression on her face.

“If she really was as loyal to Homeworld she wouldn’t have stopped attacking you at Beach City until either you were shattered or she was.”

The decision was too big of a choice to make on her own, so Pearl reluctantly agreed to Biggs' plan and offered to take the deteriorating Lapis back to the Obsidian Temple.

As the trio prepared to warp back Biggs offered the remainder of her coconut with a smile for Lapis to eat, who shook her head at the gift in her large hand,

“I’m not putting that in my mouth.”

* * *

A quiet return would have been nice to come back to, but the life of being a Crystal Gem never seemed to allow that, as the returning trio came to realize. In the hours gone on patrol the Temple living space was overturned in chaos as Steven ran beside Amethyst and Greg with squirming green masses in their arms.

Pearl ran a tired hand across her face as she prepared to chastise the troublemaking group before she came across one of the objects in their arms. When she went to pick it up she could see that it was a watermelon that was distinctly humanoid shaped, but before she could ask what was going on the fruit in her hand shouted out in alarm and wiggled free from her grasp.

The undignified noise Pearl made as she dropped the sentient produce caught everyone's attention, with Biggs and Lapis sharing the same gobsmacked expression for the situation they had just walked into.

“Sorry about the mess Pearl, these watermelon Stevens started growing out of nowhere after- is that Lapis?!” Steven rushed over to meet the former mirror prisoner.

To say she was taken back by his enthusiasm was an understatement. After the stunts she pulled in harming his guardians the week prior she expected him to hold at least some resentment like the other Crystal Gems, but his quickness to forgive her only added guilt to the list of emotions she was feeling right now.

She went to wave back but was struck with shockwaves of intense pain shooting from her gem that briefly glitched her form, and it took the support of Steven and Biggs to keep her on her feet.

“Lapis what’s wrong? Are you still cracked?” The concern in his voice was evident as the melon Stevens ceased their disorder at the tone of their creator’s voice.

“We found her like this. I don’t know what she was trying to do with the ocean but it seems to have made the crack in her gem worse…” Explained Biggs as she maintained a supportive hold on Lapis Lazuli's arm.

The blue gem gently shook off the arms that were holding her up as she straightened her back to explain herself,

“I was...going to use the water from your planet to get myself away. But every time I would get myself going my gem would act up, and my powers have just been getting weaker the more I use them. What was I even thinking?” Lapis said as she ran both hands through her hair.

The tears in gathering in her reflective eyes made Steven emotional as well, which made the bleeding heart hybrid wrap his arms around her. Pearl and Biggs flinched at Steven lowering his guard towards a gem they still didn’t entirely trust, but their feelings slowly diminished as the small crowd of melon Stevens joined in on the group hug as Lapis remained shocked at the gesture she was given.

“What...are you...doing?” Asked a very confused Lazuli, to which Steven pulled away and replied,

“I’m giving you a hug. It’s something us humans do when they see someone else happy or sad to make them feel better.”

After his explanation he went back to hugging her, making sure that he did not come in contact with her vulnerable gem in any way.

“We’ll find some way to help you Lapis. And maybe we can have fun along the way, trust me!”

The hybrids’ words of reassurance reflected the ones he offered back when she was in that mirror, and it was there she came to understand that Steven would follow through with what he promised to the best of his ability. With no better alternative and numbered minutes on her timeline Lapis decided to put her fate in the hands of Steven and the Crystal Gems. 

“Okay...I trust you.” Lapis resigned as she hesitantly wrapped her own arms around Steven to reciprocate the hug.

It was a touching scene to see Steven talk down a gem that could bring devastation to the Earth and her organisms on a whim, and for a brief moment Pearl and Biggs stood alongside Greg with hope in their metaphorical hearts that they could help Lapis recover from their mistakes they had made in the past.

They would all meet together the next day to see what can be done to prevent Lapis from crumbling, as well as get the full story of how these living watermelons came to be.

But that was an issue to worry about for tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter twenty six
> 
> from here on begins a small arc involving Lapis and the Gems earning each other's trust. It will be quick and shouldn't be longer than another chapter or two.


	27. Decisions decisions...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where the Crystal Gems make their choice

“Welcome to… the Boardwalk!” Steven and Connie both introduced Lapis with arms extended in the air.

It was the first thing to come to mind when the Crystal Gems all got together to weigh the pros and cons of assisting Lapis Lazuli with her blight, and what better way to make one’s day better than to spend it at Beach City’s Boardwalk?

Lapis would have preferred moving as little as possible to prevent further agitating the fissure on her gem, but Steven’s promise of not allowing anything bad to happen to her whittled away her hesitance until she agreed to tag along.

“Any reason you wanted to introduce me to this “Boardwalk” Steven and…?” 

“Oh that’s right you haven’t been properly introduced,” Steven realizes with a snap of his fingers before stepping to the side to make Connie and Lapis face one another.

“Lapis, this is Connie Maheswaran. She’s like my best friend and is always down to help with whatever shenanigans I get into.” The hybrid praised his human companion who gave a small wave towards the blue gem before side-eying Steven.

“Which is at least once a week.” She teased with a small grin.

“ _Anywho_ … Connie, this is Lapis Lazuli. I freed her from a mirror that was in my mom’s collection. Her gemstone is cracked but the Gems are out talking to find a way to help her, uh...hopefully.” Steven hesitantly added the last part while still maintaining a forced smile.

Connie looked up at the mirror-eyed gem before extending a hand towards Lapis,

“It’s nice to meet you Lapis Lazuli, and I’m sorry that has happened to you. If what Steven has told me about how gems work is true, a crack in your gemstones is something serious.”

Lapis was surprised at the understanding Connie had thanks to Steven; it would seem that his kindness and efforts made to help others extended to many other people. This assumption made Lapis comfortable enough to open up with her own introduction.

“It comes and goes, so I don’t really need your pity.” Was Lapis’ unintentionally cold reply. She meant it in a manner that her condition wasn’t anything to feel bad about, but the flat tone of her voice and negligence to shake Connie's hand gave off an extremely rude first impression.

Connie held a small grimace at the blue gem’s response as she slowly lowered her extended hand back to her side whilst Lapis stared back, both parties unsure of what to say next. Steven sensed the awkward energy and was quick to intervene,

“Now that we know each other let’s have fun!” 

And with that the trio walked off to partake in rigged amusement park games.

* * *

Back at the Obsidian Temple we find the Crystal Gems convened in the open space housing the temple’s heart. There was a partial divide between the group as to how to heal Lapis, or if they should even do so in the first place.

  
  
  
  


“We aren’t seriously considering this are we?” argued Bismuth.

“She told me herself, she wasn’t even supposed to get involved with the war!” rebutted Biggs.

“Even so, she is a Homeworld gem. What’s stopping her from snitching about us still being on Earth?” Pearl pointed out.

“Pearl, you said she came willingly after finding her on Mask Island? Maybe an extended hand in friendship can make her have a change of heart.” was Larmiar’s optimistic response.

“Yeah P, she could totally owe us a favor for saving her bacon. I know I would.” Amethyst backed up her silicate friend.

“Homeworld doesn’t have the same morals that we learned with our time on Earth. Even now the future is blurred with the presence of Lapis revealed, no matter if she chooses to keep quiet about us or not.” Garnet finalized with an adjustment of her reflective glasses.

Garnet’s glimpse of the timeline has produced an unconquerable fact; conflict will arrive no matter what action is taken, and with the team divided fifty-fifty they were stumped as to whether or not risk the gamble that Lapis Lazuli would be grateful for being healed and leave them alone.

“I think we should wait for Steven’s input. His opinion could be our tie-breaker.” Amethyst offered among the silence of the group.

It was the best course of action to take instead of wasting time going back and forth without results. The sextet of gems would wait until Steven, Connie and Lapis returned from their outing to finalize their choice, no matter what happens.

With the tension slowly released from the meeting the group would remain in the commonspace of the Temple to have the talk, and while everyone got settled down Bismuth jabbed an elbow into Garnet’s side,

“You and I both know what the little meatball’s gonna say. Are you really sure you want to go through with this?” Bismuth asked in a hushed tone.

“This all happened because of lack of compromise from both sides, and I plan to _not_ make that mistake again. Even if he is still learning Steven is a Crystal Gem and we should respect his decisions as one.” Garnet answered her comrade. The blacksmith gem was content with the answer she received, so she made herself comfortable on the couch.

Garnet watched her sisters-in-arms chat among themselves in the common area, but as she mulled over their situation she could feel her grip on the marble counter tighten.

_‘Still never thought about the consequences of your actions, huh Pink?’_

A voice inside herself reminded her to let go of the counter, lest she snap a piece of it off.

* * *

At the Boardwalk our trio began to really enjoy the time spent with one another. Whether it was blowing twenty dollars on a ring toss game or knocking over all but one milk bottle with airsoft guns, Lapis seemed to genuinely have fun with Steven. The blue gem was also grateful that her bad first impression with the other human, Connie as she finally remembered, was forgiven entirely as the day went on. 

“I’m gonna get us some kettle corn. You can try it too if you’d like Lapis.” Steven generously offered.

“I guess one more human tradition wouldn’t hurt…” Lapis feigned disinterest, but was actually intrigued in the concept of eating based on the faces of bliss and various levels of ecstasy the other humans made when they stuffed their face holes.

As the hybrid walked off to a vendor to purchase their snack Connie and Lapis were left alone together for a moment. The former mirror prisoner was content with the silence between them, but Connie had decided to speak up,

“I hope you had fun today. It’s not often Steven gets to do stuff like this with the Gems, and I see how that takes a toll on him. He deserves to smile more.” She said as she looked in Steven’s direction with a sad smile.

“He really does.” Lapis voiced her agreement. She saw how selfless he was even when his guardians told him that she was bad news and how he wanted to find a way to help her even despite the actions she made after her liberation.

She _knew_ a planet like this required water for life to survive, and yet she was willing to snuff it all out in an attempt to stretch a bridge to Homeworld. 

Lapis slumped in her seat slightly at this recollection. She knew she didn’t deserve this hospitality nor a chance to be free if she had thoughts to spit on the actions of her liberator in a selfish impulse to go back to a world she hardly remembered.

These negative emotions were overbearing, and with a sharp exhale of breath through gritted teeth Lapis folded over on her knees from a surge of pain in her gem. Connie froze for a moment before following the hurting gem to the ground in an effort to get her back on her feet. As the Lazuli arched her back in agony Connie audibly heard a crack emanate from her new friend, and without missing a beat she called out to Steven,

“STEVEN!!! LAPIS IS HURT!!!”

The young man whipped his head towards the warning before shoving his last ten dollar bill at the vendor.

“Keep the change!”

Steven completely abandoned the kettle treat as he rushed beside Lapis to bring her to her feet before seeing the new fissure on her gemstone.

“Oh man...oh man we’ve got to get you back to the temple!” 

Connie pulled Lapis’ arm over her shoulder to assist in carrying her, but before Steven could mirror her actions Lapis raised her head to look him in the eyes.

“I’m… sorry for causing you trouble.”

Were her last words before poofing into a light-blue smoke screen, leaving Steven to catch her gem before it hit the ground.

He cradled the retreated form of his mirror pal in horror as he stared at the grand crack that ran down it’s surface. Connie shot her hands to her mouth as the two remained still, ignoring the stares of passersby.

“Let's go.” Steven ushered as he took off in a sprint back to his house with Connie not far behind.

* * *

Pearl stared at the clock mounted on the wall as she shifted her crossed legs from one side to the other.

“It’s been two hours already, just call me from my room when those three come-”

The sound of the screen door slamming open brought the attention onto the freshly-returned pair of Steven and Connie, and a notably absent Lapis. Bismuth was first to speak her pessimism,

“Don’t tell me that gem took off without guys.” The weaponsmith voiced as she clenched her fists by her sides.

“No she didn’t leave, she got poofed! We have to help her!” Steven stressed as he displayed the damaged ore in his cupped hands. A collective hiss resonated from the gem group as they cringed from the sight of the newly scuffed Lapis gemstone. Amethyst sucked her teeth as she folded her arms behind her head,

“Welp you heard the man, we’re gonna help her. What was that place we talked about with the healing water? The mountain?”

The expressions on the other Crystal Gems sombered in recognition of the reminder of their past as active rebels and the figure that had built it.

“The fountain...” Pearl corrected, “That place hasn’t been maintained in centuries, but it’s worth a shot...?” Pearl shot a hesitant glance at a contemplative Garnet as she finished.

The permafusion took a defeated breath before walking towards the distressed pair of Steven and Connie and placing her hands upon both their shoulders.

“If you really want to go through with this, I need you to confidently say so. There can’t be any room for hesitance for what we are about to do.”

Connie found herself with a sudden weight in her chest upon hearing the words of the enigmatic Garnet. Was she really being included in the decisions of the Crystal Gems? Why was it a big deal about saving the life of Lapis?

_...Could she live with the guilt of deciding another beings' fate?_

She looked to her right at Steven for his reaction as he stared at the vulnerable object resting in his palms.

The diamond inheritor’s gaze hardened in confidence as he looked Garnet in the eyes.

“If there’s something, _anything_ we can do for her then we should do it.” He passionately expressed.

Connie Maheswaran was moved at his words; she knew that she could never live down the fact that something could have been done for Lapis but wasn't, and if taking her to this fountain didn't work then she can say that they tried.

A moment after she hooked her arm around his neck with a small smile.

“I agree with him ma’am. I just met Lapis Lazuli today, but I could tell she is a good person, er...gem, deep down. She should be able to live.”

That was all Garnet needed to hear. With a jut of her chin she gestured the group towards the warp pad to visit the aforementioned fountain.

Had it been any other circumstance, the group of eight packed together like sardines to all fit would have been a hilarious sight for Steven, but he would allow himself to reminisce later.

He made it a promise to tell Lapis all about it if...no, _when_ she got better.

* * *

The target destination was supposed to house a massive in-ground pool with a distant fountain piece at its center, but the structure was encapsulated by a forest of thorn bushes and had formed a wall preventing further access.

“A few centuries was an understatement Pearl…” Larimar bluntly expressed out loud. Bismuth laughed as she stepped from the group to approach the wall of weeds with her hands morphed together into over-sized hedge clippers.

“I’ve always wanted to get into topiary, now let’s clear a way!”

As the rainbow-haired gem prepared to begin snipping, a deep roar echoed around them, resulting in the group of warriors to form a barrier around Connie and Steven.

The sound of twigs snapping brought eyes towards the source of the howl as it swiped and pawed its way from the gaggle of thorns to reveal itself; the same beast that was carved in stone from Pink Diamond’s room.

From the hostile brush emerged a lion with pronounced pink colors to its fur with a pair of imposing glowing eyes of a similar hue.

The large feline made no intention to attack, but simply prowled towards Bismuth to put itself between the group and the path towards the fountain.

From the low stance it maintained, it was clear that this lion was not going to allow the transgressors to pass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter twenty seven
> 
> A longer chapter for sure, but that doesn't excuse the later posting. Two weeks for an update is inexcusable, I will avoid doing so in the future


	28. On good terms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where a promise is kept

It was a mexican standoff at the gulch which housed the fountain, with our group of eight staring down the unnaturally pink lion.

It displayed an unnerving calmness as it established its role as gatekeeper to the grounds, informing the older and more experienced gems that this beast was no corrupted gem. 

This animal _was_ organic, but the color hue of its fur paired with the bone-chilling roar it unleashed earlier left the assumption that this feline was most likely one of the organisms augmented by the gem presence on Earth; similar to the crystal shrimp found at the Sea Spire. 

Bismuth had backed up some to keep distance from the potential threat as she shifted her hands from shears into blunt hammers, but this action only earned her the attention of the lion as it peered through fluorescent eyes.

“Easy Bismuth, let’s not make this thing mad…” Garnet warned as she slowly stepped forward to reach her comrade. The blacksmith wondered why her fusion ally was being so wary, only to suddenly remember her clairvoyant ability and the probability that attacking would not be the best course of action.

Steven and Connie held each other behind the wall of bodies formed by the gems as they remained motionless in order to not provoke a fight, but the moment the lion broke gaze with Bismuth to meet Steven’s eyes it perked up in a quick motion that put everyone back on edge.

With a deep chirp the lion dipped low before pouncing in the large group’s direction as it blinked out of sight in a brilliant flash only to reappear as it grabbed Steven by his shirt collar with its mouth and blinked back in front of the thorn wall.

When the actions could finally be processed the group looked at the empty spot the young man was standing before turning their terrified gaze back at the captured hybrid.

“Steven!” Connie and Pearl both cried in alarm as the pair of Garnet of Bismuth made a dash to save him, but what happened next made them slow their pace down to a stop.

The large feline pushed its muzzle against Steven’s abdomen as it continued its assault on his most ticklish spot that made him almost drop Lapis’s gem from laughter.

“Haha s-stop it I, hehe-wait...hey!” He raised his cupped hands over his head as the lion lifted his shirt with its nose to expose his diamond gemstone to the afternoon air.

The hybrid remained still as his gemstone was sniffed and inspected by the looming lion over him, and to everyone’s surprise it actually lowered its head in a submissive gesture.

“...Steven, what did you do?” Amethyst asked as she dispeled her studded whip.

“I didn’t do anything…at least I don’t think I did. What’s your dealio buddy?” Steven asked as he scratched under the chin of the creature that seemed so menacing a minute ago.

He beckoned his friends over to prove that the situation was under control, and after everyone had their turn of apprehensively petting the fountain guardian to get its trust they could return to the task of healing Lapis back to full capacity.

As ones with sharp weapons at their disposal it was Pearl, Lariamr and Bismuth who began to hack and cut away the overgrown brush to reach their destination. The remainders of the group stood back to give the trio space, but as they did so Steven couldn’t help but linger on a nagging feeling he had since arriving here. He thought back about when the lion nuzzled so affectionately against him and how he instinctively knew to scratch the underside of its chin to calm it down.

The bittersweet feeling of nostalgia upon seeing the beast was not lost on him either.

* * *

It wasn’t long until a path was cleared through the fortress of thorns, but before any celebration could be had there was still one last hurdle to overcome.

In its years of inactivity, the spring’s waters have all but dried up.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Steven optimism was shattered as he collapsed to his knees in disbelief. It was a terrible feeling really; to have something you’ve been anticipating let you down, but as Steven cradled the feeble Lazuli gem in his palms he felt a hand pat itself on his shoulder.

“Gem structures are built to last,” Pearl reassured him, “I’m sure there is just a clogged waterway keeping the mountain water from flowing through!” 

Her attempt at reassuring him managed to bring a smile to his face as he wiped away the tears pooling in his eyes. Steven looked on in gratitude as the rest of the Gems broke off in separate directions to see what could be done about restoring the healing fountain.

With no one but Connie and the enigmatic Lion, affectionately nicknamed ‘Lion’ by the hybrid, nearby to await the reactivation of the spring Steven’ attention was brought to the carved figure of a large woman with curly hair at the center.

“Who’s that Steven?” Connie inquired as she too had noticed the fountain centerpiece. Her question only earned her an equally perplexed look from her friend.

“I’ve never seen this person...or Gem before. Maybe she was a friend of my mom?” His response made Connie’s eyebrows furrow in a mixture of confusion and exasperation.

“Uh… do the Gems tell you anything?” The pointed look she shot at him made him duck his chin into his chest in embarrassment.

“I have a bad habit of never asking follow-up questions…”

Steven shyly glanced back at Connie and Lions’ blank faces for a moment before Connie burst into laughter, with Steven chuckling soon after.

Lion rolled his eyes as the pair settled down from their laughing fit as he walked over to scratch himself on a hose that pointed itself towards the center of the fountain.

“Oh-oh-oh Steven look~!” Connie cooed as she saw the large feline utilize the time-worn alien architecture as his own back scratcher.

Without warning a violent stream of water gushed from the closed eyes of the unknown figure piece; unleashing a torrent to refill the bowl of the fountain. Lion had jumped away in shock from being suddenly doused and returned to Steven’s side, violently shaking himself free of any moisture on his coat.

The haunting groans of pipes creaking and water splashing against itself filled the air while the fountain received a long overdue refill. Smiles and optimism were restored in the forms of relieved hugs as Connie and Steven brought each other into an embrace at the prospect of being reunited with Lapis.

While the duo remained huddled together their attention was brought towards squishy footsteps making their way from a star-shaped doorway to herald a soaked Amethyst.

“Am I interrupting something?” She asked with a smug expression as she raked her fingers through her hair to dispel the leaves and twigs snagged inside.

After a moment of blank stares Steven and Connie looked at one another to see how close they were and quickly separated with stuttering excuses and red faces; the cheshire grin Amethyst maintained did nothing to help their embarrassment.

* * *

The healing fountain was restored, and with that the group had all met up back together for the final act of their objective.

“Whenever you're ready Steven.” Garnet permitted. She still had qualms about going through with healing Lapis Lazuli but felt more confident in facing her again now that the whole gang was together to act should the water manipulator try any funny business.

Steven nodded as he took a hesitant step into the glistening pink waters before submerging his lower body with his hold on Lapis just barely above the surface.

_“Please, please work…”_ He pleaded as he dipped his hands under and waited. Not a moment after being plunged into the fountain’s essence Lapis’ gem began to glow dimly in his hands before steadily increasing in lumination.

As Steven squinted his eyes from the sheer brightness he felt the gem yank itself from his grasp to float above him in a ball of suspended water. While the gemstone began to rotate in place everyone could see the crack along Lazuli’s surface slowly close onto itself until it became flush and smooth.

A sob of relief managed to escape Steven’s mouth as his friend began to absorb the nearby water to reform back; blue dress, flowing shoulder-length hair and all.

Lapis rolled her neck as she tested the pair of liquid wings sprouting from her back as she turned towards Steven with the brightest smile she’s ever made.

“Thank you Steven!” She descended to pull him into a hug as she lifted him out of the water to place him back on the elevated ground with the rest of his group. Happy tears were flowing as the young hybrid kept his mirror buddy in bear hug, making her grunt in his arms.

“Oof, if you hug me any harder you just might poof me.” Lapis teased, making Steven relinquish his hold with a sheepish “Sorry…”

Upon separating Lapis saw Connie holding back tears off to the side, to which the blue gem smiled again and opened her arms to beckon her over.

The teenager rushed to embrace her fully healed friend as the two rocked back and forth from the subtle height difference,

“Lapis! I’m so glad you’re okay!” Connie sniveled into her shoulder as Lapis rubbed the top of the humans head in reassurance.

The reunion was done and over with, now Lapis had steeled her nerves to face the rest of the Crystal Gems.

“Thank you… all of you. I know I might have been a _bit_ of a jerk when we first met,” Garnet exhaled through her nose in agreement, “and you had no obligation to help me. For what it’s worth I’m sorry.” 

That apology was genuine enough to put everyone at ease from the anticipation of having a kind deed taken advantage of, and it was Garnet who responded first among the group.

“Apology accepted. If anything we should have given you a chance to explain yourself, please understand that we were just nervous about you,” The fusion shook her head and straightened up, “No, I was nervous about you.” She corrected.

Lapis was relieved to hear that their previous misdemeanors had been forgiven for the time being, but the apprehensive faces of Bismuth and Pearl was her cue to not overstay any longer.

“I’m seriously thankful for what you’ve done, but I can’t stay here any longer. Being on this planet has just been… too much.” Lapis sighed out. Steven and company nodded in understanding as they prepared to say their goodbyes. Before the water gem could take off on her voyage back to Homeworld Steven felt a familiar sense of deja-vu, and called out to the departing Lapis that reminded the original Crystal Gems of a similar situation long ago,

“Will we ever see you again?”

Lapis maintained her place in the air for a moment before shaking her head as she gave him a sad smile.

“Probably not. I’ve been away from home for too long,” Lapis answered as she flapped her water wings in preparation for takeoff, “But your planet’s secret is safe with me. I’ll think of something if anyone asks where I’ve been all this time. Goodbye.”

With a single flap of her wings she ascended to the cosmos, leaving behind a painful chapter of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter twenty eight
> 
> If you can recall, Steven asking if he would see Lapis again is a callback to chapter fourteen where Pink asked the same question to Bismuth 
> 
> Memories and habits of his mother are starting to surface, and soon someone's going to say something about it


	29. Call to mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where the ground is laid for the next part of the story

Lapis Lazuli was gone; helped and healed as compensation for being marooned on a planet from a war she was not supposed to be a part of. By some stroke of fortune the aqua user was willing to let bygones be bygones and promised to not alarm Homeworld of the existence of the Gems currently surviving on Earth, even if the worth of that oath was still held in mild suspicion.

With that saga concluded we are brought to the beach house as the Crystal Gems are left to deal with one lingering result of their mission to restore Lapis from her cracked gem.

“So I guess this is a thing now…”

Amethyst’s flat tone was evident in the way she looked down at the sprawled out form of Lion as he laid himself out on the beach house balcony.

“The nerve of this guy; not a care in the world!” Remarked Steven as he scratched the pink fur of the big cat in question.

The pair's nonchalant behavior was instigating Pearl’s maternal instincts for the young man, but as much as she would love to whisk him away from this anomalous creature she maintained face as the voice of reason.

“Are you sure you two are comfortable with that thing around? We still have no idea if it could attack or not.” 

“Well, ever since he got a looksie at my gem he’s definitely mellowed out. I think he might have something to do with mom.” Steven offered as he exposed his naval gem.

“ _It just doesn’t make sense..._ ” Pearl pondered aloud as she began to pace, “If she had done something like this she would have said something to us!”

The sound of the screen door opening brings the trios attention to the ever-stoic Garnet.

“Pink Diamond appears to be still hiding things from us after all we’ve been through.” 

The disappointed tone in her voice paired with the contempt in her stare at Lion made the savannah cat sit up from the accusation.

The awkward pause put a damper on the previously pleasant morning, and figuring that everyone was already on the topic Steven spoke up.

“...Mom wasn’t very open with you guys, huh?” 

Pearl held a guilty expression on her face as she meekly gripped her elbows. Being the one who knew about Pink Diamond’s double life and not able to tell her rebel sisters was agonizing, and it took the “death” of Rose-Quartz to reveal the truth.

Garnet’s expression was contrastingly more annoyed for a moment before calming herself with a quick rub of her forehead,

“She had an “ _out of sight, out of mind_ ” mentality. Apparently she thought pushing a problem away wouldn’t come to bite her in the keister down the line, but I don’t think she ever learned that lesson.”

Steven frowned slightly at her accusation, but his irked expression lightened up as a pink lightbulb flipped on inside his head in the form of an idea.

“Maybe we can find out more stuff in my mom’s room!” Was his surprising conclusion. The offer brought another round of unsure expressions, as the surviving Crystal Gems had unspokenly agreed to not step their light-constructed feet inside the late Pink Diamond’s quarters inside the Obsidian Temple out of respect.

“I mean I don’t know Ste-man. Feels kinda weird going through your mom’s stuff without it being a life or death, plus Pearl here might get all emotional and junk.” Quipped Amethyst as she jutted her thumb to her calcium carbonate comrade.

As Pearl sputtered out her offense Steven pushed his idea with an enticing suggestion,

“If you guys don’t want to that’s fine, but the first time I went in there back when I found Lapis,” his recollection capturing everyone’s full attention, “There was a statue of Lion in there along with other stuff I’ve been meaning to talk to you all about. There was even this big rock with a bunch of names on it too.”

This was certainly an alluring prospect for the group to consider. If what Steven said was true, then there might be more snippets of background to uncover about their former leader that the group had not known yet.

With nothing else planned that day, the group made a move to the Temple and entered Pink Diamond’s personal room.

* * *

“Oh, now this takes me back~” Pearl swooned as she ran her fingers over the rack of muskets and tanegashima rifles standing out from the rest of the small piles of trinkets gathered on the hill inside her former master’s room. As pulled her hand back from the barrels her attention was brought to the small amount of black residue left on her fingertips, 

“ _Gunpowder_ … leave it to humans to pull from their environments to invent such a thing. Your television shows make me forget about humanity's potential sometimes Steven.”

Ignoring the jab made at the human races expense Steven and company sifted through the troves of novelties to see what things Pink Diamond thought were most worthy of being preserved from her experiences on Earth.

It was almost laid out like a timeline; from one end there were some hallmarks of man’s prowess into evolution in the forms of crude armor and weapons leading into a dresser and chair made by the brilliant craftsman from the Victorian era.

By the other end there were simple boxes and clotheslines which held objects that one would find stashed away in your attic. To the entire group's dismay there was hardly anything found that screamed “ _secret!_ ” like Lapis’ mirror, just souvenirs from history.

Now it was time to investigate the aforementioned stone constructs that Steven had mentioned before. A brief appraisal was verified by our resident quartz,

“Yup, that’s our lion alright.” She concluded with a single nod of approval.

But the attention was not on the feline effigy, but rather the dilapidated monolith nearby.

“This was what you were talking about…” 

Pearl’s affirmation had a strange mixture of disbelief and sadness to it. The sentiment was even shared by Garnet in the form of her dispeling her trademark visor to reveal her three eyes.

This was something important indeed…

Steven and Amethyst could only share a glance at each other as they looked on at the veteran rebels. The question that hung in the air was answered thanks to Garnet recollecting herself from her reminiscing.

“These names belonged to Gems, every single one that fought with us. Every single one that we lost.” 

The revelation hit like a mallet to the gut, but as the younger two Crystal Gems looked on in sadness at the monument Pearl and Garnet scanned the list of each crossed out name with sad smiles on their faces.

This megalith was proof of the care and consideration that Pink Diamond had for her followers even under the Rose-Quartz guise; not a single name from the rebellion was missed as far as both war survivors could tell. There were even names of those that Pearl and Garnet were honest to admit had forgotten over time, and not too long after inspection Pearl found herself pointing out a name from the surface.

“I remember Ocean Jasper! If you didn’t know any better you two would have thought that her and Biggs were the same gem if it weren’t for the colors. Both troublemakers and wild to the core.” Garnet nodded fondly at the accurate description of her decommissioned ally.

Amethyst perked up at the prospect of having more than one quartz that was as much of a riot as Biggs, and Steven displayed his own eagerness as his starry eyes darted about to pick out another story to match a name.

“What about her? Bix-bite… what was she like?”

Garnet propped her arm on the stone as she took her turn to explain,

“Bixbite was skittish, but was very reliable whenever fights with Homeworld came down to the wire. Her and Sapphire found kindred spirits in each other with how they each had one eye.” The perma-fusion clarified with a wink and tap on her left cheek bone.

Time seemed to run away as dozens of more stories were shared, as well as a few laughs and tears from the pain of memory.

This visit was a refreshing reminder to the older trio of Gems of Pink Diamond’s character as well as an example of the leaps she made to rectify the losses that occurred from her own actions.

The sky began to dip into the violet evening hues by the time everyone had left to settle for the night. With goodnight hugs delivered Garnet pulled Steven aside as she followed him up the staircase to his bed.

“Thank you for showing us what you found Steven. I’ll admit some of what your mother has done still doesn't settle with me, but today you reminded me that she was still trying to do the best she can. You are growing up to be so much like her in your own Steven-y way.”

These words held more impact considering that Garnet still remained without her visor, and Steven could see the honesty and happiness that shone in the red, blue, and purple eyes of his guardian.

He had to say it was a good day.

* * *

Somewhere in the outer reaches of the Solar System in a region we would dub the Kuiper Belt a large mass began sifting a harsh path through the clouds of asteroids and other icy bodies.

As the object passed under the large shadow of an unnamed centaur* the form of a detached green hand was revealed; pristine and undamaged from the rough journey. This unidentified flying manus was the designated model for a **_Homeworld_ ** ship for general transport over long distances. In the control deck of this vessel we are met with two figures overseeing various modules and hard-light touchscreens,

“And how much longer did you say we were?” The taller figure of the two gruffed out in a manner that was borderline impatient.

“The time it will take to arrive at our destination has not changed since the last time you asked: we are still projected to arrive at Pink Diamond’s old colony in approximately one hundred and ninety two hours. If anything changes I’ve already told you I’ll let you know, _Jasper_ …” Was the exhausted response of the smaller figure to the side whose limbs connected into the mainframe to interface with the ship.

A snort of dismissal was the only response the imposing crewmember; Jasper, as we’ve come to discover, offered to her liaison. Before turning heel to walk away an alert made itself known on a nearby screen, and both bodies turned to address the first notification received since embarking on their mission.

“An object is headed our direction. Too small and fast to be a solar body; path is linear from our objective location.” Assessed the wary pilot.

A fanged smirk etched itself onto Jaspers face as she turned to face the large window allowing for outside observation of the cosmos around them,

“Finally, some stimulation. I thought I was going to lose myself having to memorize every room in this damned thing. Why don’t we tactfully investigate; after all you _did_ say it's coming from where we have to be anyhow, right _Peridot_?”

The figure now aptly designated as “Peridot” sighed in resignation as she decided that she really did not want to argue with her enforcer over what could most likely be a simple anxious response coded into the alert system.

“...If it keeps you from complaining…”

Peridot muttered under her breath as she adjusted the ship's trajectory ever so slightly to intercept the path of the incoming object.

It would be no less than five minutes later until they made contact with something that just made their mission a hell of a lot more interesting,

An era one Lapis Lazuli.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Chapter twenty nine
> 
> *the word Centaur used here is not the half-man-half-horse creature of mythology. It's a term used in astrology for large asteroid-like objects
> 
> I had promised to not have such long absences between chapters, but now that life has settled down on my end I can now make time to focus on this little project of mine
> 
> Weekly updates are expected to return!


	30. The approaching storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where conflict is inevitable

There was a stretch of peace after the Crystal Gems revisited Pink Diamonds’ room, and the memento she had left for her compeers filled the surviving warriors with newfound morale and understanding for their leader.

Seeing as though there were fewer instances of corrupted gem monster sightings and artifacts to retrieve, Steven decided to take advantage of the spare time to visit his bubble buddy Connie Maheswaran to keep her up to date.

“Aw, your mom sounds like such a sweetheart Steven!” Connie gushed as he finished his recollection while they chatted in her living room.

“Yeah I guess… but something felt off before that.” Steven clarified as he took a sip from the carton of juice she offered, 

“Garnet implied that my mom didn’t always tell them everything. I almost get the feeling that everything she’s done was to make up for something, and I really _really_ want to ask but…” he trailed off as he scratched the cushion of the sofa he was sitting on.

“...But you don’t want to be rude.” Connie finished for him, to which he confirmed by sadly blowing bubbles into his near-empty juice box.

In Connie's eyes, it spoke volumes of the trust and patience Steven had for his adoptive guardians. Should the young girl have been in his shoes she would have definitely made a big fuss about her own parents keeping her in the dark about the going ons in her family.

Granted, her family wasn’t a group of aliens, so there was always that to consider.

Getting back on track, she didn’t like seeing Steven looking down after not seeing him for so long, and in a moment of boldness she scooted over to wrap her arms around him in a reassuring hug.

The gesture flustered Steven for a moment before his brain decided to work again as he reciprocated the action.

“The debbie-downer look isn’t good on you Steven. You can talk to me or my parents about this kind of stuff if you want.” Connie offered as she pulled away, mentally crossing her fingers that he wouldn't point out the blood slowly rushing to her cheeks.

A weight he didn’t know he was carrying seemed to be lifted off his chest as he stared back at the girl, but before he could express his appreciation he felt his phone go off in his pocket. He smiled as he looked at the candid photo of Pearl he took for her caller ID on his screen before swiping his thumb to answer.

“Howdy Pearl! Anything you need from little ‘ol…” 

Steven’s goofy answer was cut off as his expression slowly changed from nonchalant to that of slight worry. He furrowed his brows before nodding his head and ending his call in a low voice.

“Okay I’ll uh...wrap things up over here.”

As the hybrid put his cellular device away he stood up and began to collect the trash from the snacks he was so graciously offered. By now Connie was starting to get worried by the shift in his tone.

“What was that all about? Is everything okay Steven?”

In effort to not worry her Steven shot his friend a smile.

“Duty calls! Pearl was just asking for me to come back home. She’s a real worry wart so whatever it is probably nothing too big. Sorry to be leaving so soon.” He explained with an embarrassed chuckle.

She decided not to pry into the matter. While she walked him to the door to see him off she waved him goodbye as he took off.

“Tell the Gems I said hi!”

Steven raised a thumbs up in her direction as he departed, and as soon as he was out of sight Connie retired back into her abode.

_‘Hope everything is okay…’_ She thought as she cleaned up from their little visit, lest she receive a scolding from her mother when she returns in the evening.

* * *

When the young man returned to his house he was surprised at the amount of movement going on throughout the temple. He entered through the front door and caught Amethyst, who was simply standing by as Pearl and Garnet rushed from their respective rooms.

“What’s all the commotion Amethyst? We setting up for a party or something?”

The shorter quartz crossed her arms before relaying her response,

“Garnet saw something with her future vision and flipped into full commander mode. Never seen her like this before.” 

That answer was somewhat concerning; Garnet was like the head honcho of the Crystal Gems! As long as he can remember he’s never seen her break her cool, even when it came to dealing with Lapis way back when. With the aforementioned fusion caught sight of Steven she approached him to give him a proper explanation.

“Steven I need you to listen carefully…”

Steven awaited her instructions with bated breath.

“Things are about to go down. A conflict will occur on a level which we haven’t seen in centuries. We’ll need you, your father and the rest of Beach City to evacuate while we handle it.”

Her statement left no room for arguments, but the implications roused an oddly familiar fire in his gem.

“Well maybe I can help! Not to toot my own horn but I’ve been doing really good alongside you guys lately, I’m sure there has to be some way I could-” But before he could retort Pearl stepped in to place her hands on Stevens shoulders with a level of urgency on her face that shook Steven to his core.

“Please don’t be difficult now of all times, Steven! This is something you’ve never been taught before. Just...listen and let us take care of this!”

The diamond inheritor could only stammer at Pearl’s pleas. He wanted to prove his worth as a Crystal Gem, after all what was the point in all the efforts he made with his training then?

He looked to Amethyst for support, but was discouraged to see the glum face she was sporting. It was clear she wanted to say something but simply kept her mouth shut in silent agreement with the older Gems.

It was clear that they had no intentions of letting him help, so Steven simply shrugged his guardian’s hands from his person and hesitantly made his way to his room to pack a change of clothes.

The frustration accumulating in him only grew when he saw his novelty backpack already packed and waiting for him on his bed.

Within minutes Greg’s van pulled up to the front of the Obsidian Temple, but no goodbyes were said as Steven all but stomped out to drive away with the rest of the town.

As the vehicle pulled out Amethyst ran a hand through her bangs.

“Was this the right thing to do? Steven looked pretty bummed…”

Garnet nodded as she rested her palm on her comrades shoulder.

“This was the best course of action. We can always come back if we get too hurt, but Steven isn’t so lucky.”

_He would just be in the way was the harsh truth that she would rather avoid saying_

The small pity party was broken by Pearl of all people.

“Alright, let’s get serious! I’ve already let Bismuth and the rest of the gang know what’s happening, so we just need to fortify until they get here!”

This determination riled a new sense of purpose within the group, whose energy was stoked even further by Amethysts cheers of seeing a side of Pearl that finally wasn’t so stuck up.

_‘Fighting against Homeworld, how long has it been?’_

_‘Let’s hope Pearl and ourselves haven’t got too rusty all this time~”_

The pair of consciousness within Garnet conversed briefly among themselves before setting out to face the oncoming enemy.

* * *

Far up in the sky we find ourselves in the outermost reaches of Earth’s atmosphere, where a colossal green aircraft reminiscent of a human hand makes its descent from the cosmos. The heat and air resistance from reentry did little to hinder the path from its destination as noted by the pilot of the very vessel.

“Smoother landing than anticipated. If only all colonizable planets could be so generous.” Peridot sighed as she manipulated the controls to arrive at the appointed landing zone. Off to her flank was her enforcer, walking in from the brig containing our newly imprisoned Lapis.

“Talking to yourself again huh? Are all Peridots like this, or you the exception?” Jasper teased as she poked her slightly irked face..

“We shall achieve landfall in a few moments,” Peridot began, ignoring the jeers of her crew mate, “As you know the primary mission is to investigate what force destroyed the red eye device and report the findings. The secondary is to collect any remaining samples…of the Clusters.”

Both Gems shivered slightly at the uncomfortable objective they were tasked with, but the word of the Diamonds was absolute. 

If anything, being assigned to this case should be considered an honor knowing that the authority trusted these two gems with stepping back onto the taboo grounds of Homeworlds past.

At least, that’s what they tried to rationalize.

The duo of invaders willed their nerves away as they would eventually come to greet the welcoming party secretly being prepared just for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter thirty
> 
> Hope all you people enjoyed a happy and healthy holiday season.
> 
> It can only get better from here!

**Author's Note:**

> If you've made it this far then I just want to say thank you for taking the time to give this story a read.
> 
> If you have any questions regarding the altered story ask away, I will clarify
> 
> Criticism is highly encouraged


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